Turning the Tide
by Apoll0
Summary: Harry has been selected as the 4th champion and things look bleak. Isolated from his peers Harry has never felt more alone. Will he be able to find true friends and turn the tide? This will not have any bashing but some characters might be put under scrutiny. Good but human!Dumbledore, Non-Friend!Ron. HP/DG
1. Chapter 1

**Hi all this is my first fanfiction so please go easy on me. I've been reading fanfics for some time now and was finally inspired enough to write a fanfic myself. Also English isn't my main language so I apologize for any and every mistake I make.**

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Harry Potter. I write this purely for my amusement and do not make any profit while doing so.

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"Harry Potter."

His world started to crumble as he heard his name uttered by Dumbledore. The entire Great Hall had gone mute and was staring at him in disbelief. Slowly majority of the students' faces started to shift to looks of jealousy and anger. Harry didn't even have to look at his best friend, Ron's face to know his reaction.

Still in shock Harry glanced at Hermione and saw that even Hermione was wearing a dubious look.

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore read again, this time a bit more forcefully. Hermione gave him a hard shove which pushed him to his feet. Slowly he started to make his way to the ante chamber where the other three champions were.

He had his head down and tried his best to ignore the angry whispers that were determined to hurt him. He chanced a glance at Dumbledore and saw a contemplative look on the headmasters face.

'He thinks that I might have put my name in the goblet.' Harry thought wearily.

As he entered the ante chamber he saw the other three champions watching him curiously. Fleur Delacour took a few steps towards him and asked, "What eez eet? Do zhey need us back in zhe 'all"

Harry who was still quite dazed just stood there unable to form any rational thought. Just as Fleur was about to repeat the question Ludo Bagman bustled in wearing his stupid grin and exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen may I present you the fourth Tri Wizard champion. This is too astonishing for words." He finished happily.

"But surely you jest. 'e ees just a leetle boy!" Fleur exclaimed.

Something sparked in Harry at that comment. He was so sick and tired of everything in his life and after everything he's been through hearing that remark was the last straw for him.

At that moment the headmasters of the three schools barged in to the ante chamber.

"Madame Maxine thees man ees saying that Arry Potter 'as been chosen as zhe fourth champion. There must be a mistake?" Fleur piped immediately.

"Dumbleedoree I demand you take action to thees, zhat boy 'as 'oodwinked zhe goblet of fire." Madame Maxine demanded from Dumbledore.

Ignoring her Dumbledore rushed to Harry and asked urgently, "Did you put your name in the Goblet Harry?"

"No sir."

"Did you ask an older student to do it for you?" Dumbledore pressed on.

"No, I did not. Sir you have got to believe me" Harry answered back eyes blazing unlike never before.

"Surely 'e ees lying." Madame Maxine voiced her thoughts.

"Dumbledore I also demand that you take action against this or I would be forced to withdraw my school from this tournament" Karkaroff exclaimed angrily.

"Empty threat Karkaroff. You cannot take your student away from this tournament whether you like it or not. For that matter even Potter can't do anything other than to compete in this blasted tournament." Alastor Moody shouted as he entered the chamber.

"Then what are we supposed to do, Hogwarts has an unfair advantage of having two champions. The boy must be craving for attention so bad if he did something like this." Karkaroff retorted angrily.

Harry was livid at that remark, as he was going to defend himself Moody interrupted him.

"On the contrary Karkaroff I think Potter didn't do this. Whoever entered Potter wanted him dead." Moody said ominously while glaring daggers at Karkaroff.

"Regardless of that Mr. Potter has to compete in the tournament or face dire consequences." Barty Crouch senior interrupted the verbal duel between Karkaroff and Moody. "The first task will be held on the 24th of November." Crouch continued before anyone could interrupt him. "It will be a task to test your courage and adaptability to tough situations."

"With that shall we all retire for the day? What is done is done, and we have four champions for the better or worse." Dumbledore announced with a tone of finality.

"But thees is unfair to us Dumbleedore? There are two 'ogwarts chamions" Madme Maxine argued again.

"No there isn't." Harry said quietly but quite firmly. The entire rooms' attention was now fixed on him. Everyone was shocked to see his blazing eyes.

"Cedric Diggory is the true Hogwarts champion. I will compete independently in this tournament." He announced.

Dumbledore sighed; he looked to have aged 15 years in the span of an hour or so. "Are you sure about this Harry?" It broke Dumbledore's heart to alienate Harry even more but he saw no other alternative.

"Yes sir. I am." Harry responded quietly.

"Very well this meeting is over, everyone please retire for the day. Mr. Crouch, Mr. Bagman, do you plan to stay at Hogwarts today? We can prepare guest quarters for you." Dumbledore asked the two ministry officials as he and everyone else started to move out of the chamber.

Harry wasn't paying attention to that. His mind was reeling from today's events. Particularly from what Moody said. 'Someone was out for his blood this year too. Is it Voldemort again? Why can't I catch a break?' he thought bitterly.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts, that he didn't even realize Cedric was right beside him until Cedric spoke up.

"So you really didn't put your name in the goblet?" he asked.

Harry sighed, "No Cedric, why would I... I mean I'm already quite famous why would I risk my life to get more fame? Also assuming that I did want to get in to the tournament, do you really think that I would be able to get past an age line drawn by Albus Dumbledore himself?" he answered sadly. "No one's going to believe me huh Cedric?" He questioned resignedly.

Cedric didn't have an answer. They walked in silence each engrossed in his own thoughts.

"Well I go down from here" Cedric piped as the Hufflepuff common room is in the basement not far away from the Hogwarts kitchen. "Look I'm not 100% convinced but I know you're a good guy Harry, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'll try to keep the puff's off your back as best as I can. I won't guarantee anything though." Cedric declared firmly.

A smile graced Harry's lips and he gave the Hufflepuff a thankful look and nodded, "Thanks Cedric. It means a lot to me. Well then I'll see you around I guess." He finished awkwardly.

The 6th year nodded and started walking towards his common room. Harry sighed again and started his trek towards the 7th floor.

...

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 **A/N: Just an idea I had for a while. I just wanted to put it out there!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys heres the second chapter! The story is writing it self so I'll be updating the first few chapters fast I guess. Anyways I thought it would be interesting to add Daphne's POV too so this chapter is Daphne's POV. Hope you enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. Who knows I MIGHT own it by the time I upload the next chapter!

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Daphne Greengrass prided herself on her ability to read people. Therefore when Harry Potter's name has been announced as the 4th Tri Wizard champion she knew that Potter had nothing to do with this. She mentally scoffed when she saw Granger over analyzing things and doubt Potter.

She turned her eyes away from the Gryffindor table and surveyed the Great Hall. Most of the students were bemused and were only being swayed due to public opinion. In fact most didn't even know what to think of Potter and just went with the flow, except the puff's of course.

'Potter is going to be labeled as a cheater I guess.' She mused. She didn't care all that much to be honest. Aside from a few words exchanged during potions she literally has no past interactions with the Potter heir.

However she found Potter to be puzzling, intriguing even. From first time she has seen Potter she found his behavior quite odd. She clearly saw that Potter needed help. She found it perplexing as to why no one around would help him. Be it his clothes, or his obviously malnourished body, even his attitude. She has noticed that Potter gets extremely nervous with crowds especially adults. He avoids eye contact and acts…. well like a house elf. She noticed some other interesting things as well. Like the fact that Potter doesn't know how to make a friend (not that Weasley is helping there) or Potter having suffered some degree of abuse. Also Potter is completely ignorant of how the wizarding world works. If she had to guess she might say he doesn't even know about his own family.

These observations brought even more questions. Why is the heir to a Most Noble and Most Ancient House dressed as a beggar? Why is the wizarding world's hero ignorant of the world his parent gave their lives to protect?

Aside from these observations she noted that Potter managed to get himself tangled into an adventure every year.

"This year's no different I see" Daphne muttered to herself.

"You said something Daph?" asked her only friend Tracey Davis. Tracey was a childhood friend of hers and the only one that has seen Daphne without her mask aside her family.

"Nothing Trace, just thinking about stuff." She replied in a bored tone.

"Oh. Is it about Potter? I was just talking to Blaise about it too." Tracey started to ramble. "In fact-"

"Trace calm down, you're rambling again and I'm not in the mood for one of your tirades." Daphne said, she was too tired to listen to Tracey.

Tracey huffed and turned away and started to speak with Blaise.

Daphne shook her head and allowed a tiny smile to crack through her mask. She wasn't even consciously putting her mask on anymore. When she was in her second year her mother taught her how to act like a pureblood heiress and drive away suitors that were bound to appear without cursing them. Since then she has perfected her mask so that she could intimidate almost every male in Hogwarts.

She looked around the Great Hall and saw that people are starting to leave since the champions won't be coming back soon. She nudged Tracey and got up to head to the dungeons.

"Wait up Daph!" Tracey called after her.

Daphne slowed down but kept walking towards their common room. She saw Astoria from the corner of her eye chatting merrily with her band of friends. Astoria was her sister. She was two years younger than her and had a fiery personality. If there ever was a likeable Slytherin, it was Astoria. She will be safe from suitors thanks to Daphne, since she wasn't unapproachable like Daphne and boys will bound to try and get fresh with her.

'Though it'll take another two years for her to attract suitors.' she mused.

"So Daph, I want to know what you think." Tracey started.

"About what?" Daphne played dumb. It was so easy to get a rise from Tracey and it was her personal vice and she did have a few of those.

"About Potter." Tracey huffed. "Honestly Daph where are you? Aren't you even the least bit interested it Harry Potter and his rule breaking crusade?" Tracey asked.

"Oh that, well Potter didn't do it." Daphne answered simply.

"Do what, putting his name in the goblet? How can you be so sure?" Tracey asked taken aback by Daphne's direct answer.

"Daphne sighed, "Tracey didn't you see his face when his name was announced. He was the most shocked person in the Great Hall. Now tell me. If he had put his name in the goblet will he act that way?"

"Well, he could have been faking it. I mean you can never be sure."

"Please. Potter can't even tell a decent lie and besides nobody could act that well." Daphne scoffed.

"You do pay Potter quite a lot of attention don't you Daph." Tracey said as they entered the common room. "I mean you look at him like you're trying to analyze him or something at least once a week. Don't tell me you fancy him" Tracey said with a mischievous grin.

Daphne rolled her eyes amused at Tracey's antics. "I'm going to take a shower I couldn't take one before we went for dinner." She told Tracey before heading for the showers.

She took a long shower and her thoughts drifted again to Harry Potter. He was a puzzle for her. She had bits and pieces but the full picture wasn't clear. She thought about his performance in class. He was powerful and quite gifted, though his work ethic is the same as Weasley's. Even then he has managed to keep up with the rest of his peers. It's like he's doing just enough to get by.

'Oh well he can hold himself back all he wants. Not like I care.' She thought to herself.

Getting out of the shower she came back to the common room seeing Tracey already in bed. For the millionth time she was thankful that Parkinson wasn't in her room.

The Slytherin dorms were unique. Unlike other houses they had rooms and each room housed two people or three people in rare occasions.

Changing to her pajamas she said good night to Tracey and crawled under her covers and twisted and turned till she found a comfortable spot. As she drifted to sleep her last thought was, 'Things were bound to get interesting. I hope Potter won't die in this.

...

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 **A/N: If there are any mistakes please point them out. Don't flame because they will be ignored. Next chapter will come soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Here's chapter 3. A big thank you to all who reviewed, favorite and followed.**  
 **The confrontation between Harry and Gryffs here. Just a small note Harry doesn't hate any gryff in this, just frustrated that no one seems to understand him. Also the fact that he's alone clouds his judgement a bit. Anyways on with the show!**

Disclaimer: Guess what I still don't own Harry Potter !

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'This is it.' Harry thought as he was nearing the Fat Lady's portrait. 'Time to face the music I guess.' Summoning his Gryffindor courage he gave the password to the Fat Lady.

"Oddsbodikins."

"Welcome champion, make Godric proud!" Fat Lady responded while opening inwards. Harry smiled weakly at the portrait and entered the common room.

All conversation ceased as he entered the common room. For about ten seconds nobody moved. Then the Weasley twins started clapping and slowly the entire house joined in. It got to the point where Fred and George had to use a Sonorous charm to quieten the common so that they can ask Harry some questions.

"So Harrikins, how did you do it" asked Fred jovially after the common room was quiet enough to start the interrogation.

"Do what? Don't tell me you guys believe that I put my name in the goblet?" Harry tried to play it dumb.

"Come on now, we know you put your name in the goblet mate, you don't have to lie we're cool with you being the Gryffindor champion." Seamus Finnegan said from somewhere to his left.

"Look guys I really didn't do it." Harry tried again trying to convince his housemates. "You know I didn't want to enter this tournament in the first place" he pleaded.

Some of the upper years bristled. Angelina Johnson looked extremely mad. "So it's not enough you became a champion, you need to lie to us too." She retorted angrily.

"Yeah and why was your name selected after the three champions were selected? How did you hoodwink the goblet so that it'll draw your name AND Diggory's name?" Cormac Mclaggen added.

"I don't know ok. Moody said whoever that entered me must have wanted to kill me. Look I haven't done anything wrong here why don't you people believe me? Harry shot back.

"Because it's a load of bull shite that's why." Ron said finally. Harry saw the faces of his two friends when he entered the common room and knew that Ron was going to erupt soon. But still it stung knowing that your two best friends don't trust you.

"Look Ron I don't care if your jealous or not but the fact is I DIDN"T PUT MY NAME IN THE GOBLET." Harry shouted.

"You could've told me and we could have put our name together you know. But nooooo the great Harry Potter won't let his side kick share his glory. You know what? I'm done being your sidekick. I won't-"

"Argh damn it Ron shut up. I…- Look I'll tell you all one more time. I DID NOT PUT MY NAME IN THE GOBLET, and you know what, even Cedric believed me, it hurts that my own house doesn't have faith in me."

With that he pushed his way through to the boys' dormitory. Behind him the entire house started to talk at once. The 4th and 5th years were mostly confused with the odd exception. The upper years are divided; some are indifferent while some believe that Harry Potter is just an arrogant toe rag. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd years are just stunned by all the drama. But one thing clear to Harry. The ones who believe in him are few if not none.

He grabbed a quick shower and got ready for bed with haste so he can avoid his dorm mates. Once he changed into his night things, he cast a two way silencing charm blocking all sound in and out and laid on his bed. He was exhausted with all this drama. He felt so lonely. A lone tear slid down his cheek and he vigorously wiped it off. He sighed and tried to think of anything else other than Hogwarts and the bloody tournament.

To his immense frustration he couldn't. He cautiously peeped through the curtains to see if any of his dorm mates is around. Seeing only Neville getting ready for bed his back turned towards him he opened his trunk and took a phial of dreamless sleep potion. Dumbledore suggested that he should ask Madame Pomfrey for a few phials so that he can sleep if the dream of the manor gets too much for him.

After gulping down the revolting potion Harry laid down again. As he slowly drifts to the land of dreams, one thought permeates his mind.

'I need to get stronger or I will die real soon.'

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The next day Harry awoke with a start. It took a while for yesterday's events to settle in again and when they did Harry fell back to bed with a loud groan.

Figuring that he can't stay in bed forever he got up and canceled the silencing charms applied on his curtains. Seeing that Ron is still asleep he quietly made his way to the showers and did his morning rituals. When he got back Ron was still soundly sleeping. Thanking his lucky stars he changed into his school robes and walked out of the dorm. It was Tuesday so he had Double history of magic first thing in the morning.

A few people were there already in the common room and he saw Hermione looking nervously at him from her favorite armchair. Bracing himself for the worst he walked towards her as she got up from her chair as well.

"Hi Harry." She started awkwardly.

"Good morning Hermione, were you waiting for me?" He ventured a guess.

"As a matter of fact yes, erm… I… what I mean is…" Hermione stuttered.

"Hermione stop! Let me ask you a question. Do you think I put my name in the goblet?" He asked bluntly.

"I want to believe you Harry, but you were so excited when the tournament was announced and, a-and you-"

"Everyone was excited Hermione, I'm not an exception. Merlin Ron's being a git, and now you don't believe me, what is going on here?" he asked exasperatedly.

"I know Harry; it's just that the facts point that way. Look, give me some time ok? I need to think. And Ron's just jealous Harry, he wants to be out of his brothers' shadow, also being Harry Potter's friend isn't easy. Just give him time." Hermione pleaded.

"Whatever Hermione, take your time but the trust that was between us won't be the same. It isn't easy being Harry Potter too you know. Ron doesn't seem to realize this. I know he's a good guy but if he can't grow up then it just means we'll have to go our separate ways." He said sadly and saw Hermione tearing up.

Before she could say anything he interrupted her and said; "Look Ron's still my friend and I'll give him time so he can deal with this, I'll give you time too. It hurts that my best friends won't stand by me in trying times." He said to Hermione and gave her a friendly pat to her shoulder.

By now Hermione is sobbing and it hurt Harry too much to watch so he quickly left the common room leaving Hermione with a hasty good bye.

Heading towards the Great Hall Harry felt like he was suffocating. He stopped and gripped the wall for support and steadied himself. Taking a few deep breathes he calmed himself, he was feeling decidedly better so he resumed his walk towards the Great Hall. There were quite a few people there and everyone turned towards him when he walked through the doors.

He sighed again and tried to ignore the looks of loathing from the puffs the best he could. Seeing Neville alone at the corner of the Gryffindor table he went there.

"Mind if I sit here Nev?" He asked the plump Gryffindor.

"No Harry I don't mind." The timid boy replied quietly.

He started to eat and about halfway through the meal Neville asked the inevitable question.

"I know you must be tired of hearing this… but d-did you put your name in the goblet of fire?" Neville asked.

Harry put his fork down and took a deep breath.

"No. I didn't put my name in the goblet." He answered softly but firmly.

Neville had a contemplative look on his face and was quiet for some time. Sighing Harry Picked up his fork and resumed his breakfast.

"I believe you." The plump boy replied suddenly.

Harry was taken aback by this and was momentarily stunned. Neville continued to speak not looking at Harry.

"I'm not that brave you know. I don't know why the hat chose to put me in Gryffindor. I'm not strong magically either. Yesterday when you were speaking to the entire house you were so… so… I don't know… commanding? And I think I knew deep down you were telling the truth. B-but it's hard to stand up to the entire house Harry. I'm sorry I'm just rambling now… but you know I might not be much help but I'm here if you want to talk." He finished with a small smile.

Harry was shocked. He blinked, and blinked again and slowly a grin formed and for the first time since his name came out from the goblet of fire he felt genuine happiness.

He clapped Neville on the back and said, "Thank you Nev, you don't know how much that means to me. I had no one, I was well and truly alone you know. So thank you again. And for the record I don't think the hat made a mistake in outing you Gryffindor. You just need a bit more confidence. Magic is affected by those things Nev; try to command your magic. Because, if you don't believe in yourself no one else will." Harry finished seriously.

Neville looked at him in surprise and for a moment he saw determination flash in his eyes. In that moment Harry saw the true Neville Longbottom. Seeing that both of them had finished eating he suggested, "Hey want to grab our bags from the common room and head for history of magic?"

Neville's eyes went wide and he smiled and nodded. They got up together and headed towards the common room. As they left the hall they saw Ron heading towards it in a hurry. As they passed each other Ron threw a dirty glare at Harry which he expertly ignored.

Arriving at the common room he quickly gathered his stuff and waited for Neville to get his stuff. When they were ready they headed towards the History of magic class making idle chit chat. While doing this Harry was kicking himself for ignoring Neville all this time.

'Oh well bygones are bygones I guess.' He thought as he entered Binn's classroom.

...

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 **A/N: Hope i didn't overdo anything. Let me ramble a bit; Ron is just jealous and Harry understand where he comes from so he won't be bashed ok. Personally I dislike Ron, but what to do he's just a kid. Hermione probably will remain as a friend though not as close they used to be. On another note I'll try to keep the cliche's to a bare minimum. As I said this is my first fic so there will be so many glaring errors :)**  
 **Thanks for reading! Constructive criticism is welcome flames will be ignored!**

 **Fun facts: The day after the goblet's selection is actually a Tuesday. Also the first period on Tuesday is double history of magic in year 4. Oddsbodikins is an actual Gryffindor password found in HP verse.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey all I'm back with chapter 4. The story starting to start for real now. It'll take a few more chapters to get really started I guess. Without further ado I give you chapter 4.**

Disclaimer : Do you think I own Harry Potter? If you think I do you're sadly mistaken.

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History of Magic ended and Harry was starting to get a headache. Not from listening to Binn's. No, during the entire double History of Magic periods he was thinking about his predicament.

He realized that he was sorely lacking in all aspects of magic. His grasp of magic is very basic and he has been studying magic in an exam oriented mindset. This means that his knowledge on the finer points of magic and the execution of magic in general is weak. Now he understood why Hermione got such good grades on essays and how she was able to master spells before anyone else. It's because she understood magical theory well. He basically did everything using his natural aptitude for magic so until now he didn't care about theory.

'Oh well I don't think I'll be able to catch up what I've been neglecting to do for three years before the first task. I need to focus on something that might help with my task, not waste time wallowing in my ineptitude.' He thought bitterly.

As he stepped out of the class with Neville he realized he needed to clear his mind. He turned to Neville and said, "Hey mate I'm going to take a walk near the lake before potions so catch you in a bit."

"Ok Harry, I was about to say that I'm going to meet professor Sprout to talk about the project I'm undertaking for some extra credit." Neville replied.

Harry shook his head in amusement. "Mate why in the world do you need extra credit in Herbology." Harry asked chuckling.

"I like Herbology Harry. I'm good at it, besides I like plants." Neville fired back with a grin.

Chuckling Harry waved and headed towards the entrance hall. Today was a rare sunny day when compared with the normal wet and cold Scottish November. There were many students milling about enjoyed the light sun rays.

He walked towards the lake and found 'his' spot. It was near the shore but not close to the water. A healthy, sturdy tree was there standing proudly. He leaned against the tree and closed his eye trying to ignore the hollow feeling created by not having Ron and Hermione.

He slowly slid down the bark of the tree and sat down on the grass. Still with his eyes closed he breathed in and out calmly, treasuring this moment of peace. About 5 minutes later he felt someone sit next to him.

He slowly opened his eyes and turned to see who it was. His eyes widened comically when he realized that sitting next to him was the renowned 'Ice Queen of Hogwarts' Daphne Greengrass.

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Daphne was wondering aimlessly along the bank of the lake. Tracey was working on some Runes homework that Daphne had already done so she left her at the library. While she was leisurely strolling along the grass bank next to the lake she saw Harry Potter sitting by a tree with his eyes closed and a serene expression on his face. His messy hair was swaying in the gentle breeze that was coming from the lake. His face was so peaceful that Daphne just stopped and stared at him for a while. After some time she noticed what she was doing and blushed a bit. Looking around she saw that this spot is cannot be seen from the more populated areas of the Hogwarts grounds. She realized why Potter liked this place at once.

Looking at Potter again she was suddenly tempted to talk to him. She noticed during breakfast that he sat with Longbottom and assumed the 'Golden Trio' had a falling out.

'Well I've got nothing to lose; besides I've been curious about Potter for the longest time.'

She walked up to where Potter was and sat down on the ground next to him and gazed at the lake. She felt Potter's gaze and turned to him. His eyes were wide as saucers. It took all her self control not to giggle at his expression. She couldn't prevent the small smile that cracked through her mask though.

Potter must have got himself under control as he was now scrutinizing her. He looked a bit vary but still voiced his thoughts.

"Uhh… can I help you Greengrass?" He asked.

She looked at his emerald eye and for the first time noticed how bright they were.

"Hmm maybe you can." She answered cryptically.

"Ok then." He started again. He had a bemused expression on his face. "So… what can I help you with?" he pressed on.

"Let's see, there are a lot of things you could help me out with but for now just let me use this spot of yours. It's quite relaxing here." Daphne said leveling him with a cold stare to which Potter responded with a confused but accepting look of his own.

They settled into a companionable silence. She was surprised at how relaxed she felt around Potter. She looked at Potter again who had once again closed his eyes.

"I wonder who put your name in the goblet of fire." She thought aloud.

Harry's eye snapped open and looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"Wait." He said. "You didn't ask me whether I put my name in the goblet or not?" He questioned a bit stunned at her comment.

Daphne chuckled lightly and smirked at him. "I know you didn't put your name in the goblet. I mean you don't like to stay in spotlight; in fact you let Weasley take your spotlight. Also you are not the type to break any rules for your benefit. Now if it is for one of your friends you would have done so immediately." She said to a now shell shocked Harry Potter.

"Close your mouth Potter; you might accidentally swallow a fly." Daphne remarked thoroughly amused with his response.

Potter looked sheepish but started to speak straight away. "How do you know so much about me? Even my best friends don't believe me; well ex best friends I guess." He asked looking a mix between amazed and curious.

"Well they _are_ thick headed. As to how I know, well I've seen you in school Potter and from what I've observed I knew this. I find you quite interesting to be honest." Daphne replied smugly.

She saw Potter blushing a bit and chuckled. "Back to what I was talking about, I wonder who put your name in the goblet." Daphne asked again.

Potter shrugged, "Beats me Professor Moody says that the person who put my name in the goblet wants me dead." He said resignedly.

Daphne nodded. They fell again to a companionable silence.

"You need help Potter. Too bad your friends left you." Daphne sighed.

Potter looked surprised, but then he mastered his featured and looked towards the lake again. "I guess I do need help." He said softly. "You know you aren't what I expected you to be Greengrass. Do you want to help me Green-…Daphne?" he asked quite seriously.

Daphne was taken aback. She didn't expect this at all. She never anticipated Potter would be so accepting with a Slytherin but here she was. Then she thought about the offer a bit cocking her head to one side.

"Okay Potter. But in return you need to help me with DADA. I've seen you in DADA and I can tell you are a prodigy in it. So deal?" She asked.

She could see Potter blushing and she couldn't help but grin a bit. Potter ran a hand through his messy locks and gave her a smile. In the morning sunlight he looked quite dashing and Daphne was starting to blush herself before she managed to apply what little occlumency she knew and get herself under control.

'What is wrong with me?' she thought furiously.

"Sure Daphne. I can handle that." He said with the same soft smile. Daphne returned the smile for a bit before reapplying her 'Ice Queen mask'.

She looked at the lake again before she cast a quick tempus and saw that they had 5 minutes before Potions.

"It's almost time for Potions Potter. It was nice talking to you. Let's meet here again after lunch." She said as she got up and dusted herself off. She gave Potter a small smile before walking away.

"Okay see you then Daphne." He responded and followed her a few feet behind her.

'Things are definitely starting to get interesting' Daphne mused feeling strangely happy.

...

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 **A/N: Harry met Daphne :)**  
 **As always I crave for constructive criticism and reviews in general. Flames will be ignored!**  
 **The next chapter might take a while I'll try to hit 15K words by tomorrow :) Cheers and see ya all!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey all! Here's chapter 5. A short one :( I'll try to write another chapter soon. Thanks for all who reviewed, favorite and followed. Special thanks to KnowPein for his tips and pointing out flaws. I'll try to improve. I noticed that Some of my previous chapters had some mistakes, I'll try to rectify them. So here the new chapter!**

Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter.

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...

Potions that day was arduous. They were required to make a Black fire potion. The instructions were pretty simple but there were so many steps. If you miss a step, the whole potion is botched. Having Neville as a partner wasn't helping either. What with helping him not blow his cauldron and brewing his own potion as well. Harry didn't have time to think about his conversation with Daphne again either.

"Two clockwise spins and the potion should turn a pale lavender' he recited the instructions in his mind. To his dismay it turned a light blue.

"Potter what is this?" The dreaded silky voice of Severus Snape was heard.

"Erm... the Black Fire potion...sir?" Harry replied warily.

" _This_ , is a soggy mess potter. This qualifies as a T for your grade Potter." Snape sneered while vanishing his Potion.

Harry clenched his hands and gritted his teeth to stop himself from saying something that he'll regret. From the corner of his eye saw Malfoy smirking. He took a deep breath and responded.

"Yes sir." Snape momentarily surprised that Potter managed to control his anger just sneered and left to check another potion.

Harry let out a breath and turn to Neville to see that his potion turned a sickly green colour. Sighing he helped Neville to salvage his potion as much as possible. Turning around he caught Daphne's eye and she sent a barely perceptible nod his way.

Daphne was not what he expected. Before today he just thought she was another Slytherin determined to spread the dogma of pureblood supremacy. But after talking with her he realized that she wasn't that different from the rest of us. Admittedly she was a lot more cold and there was a calculating glint in her eyes most of the time. She wasn't evil, and that opened Harry's eye to a whole new perspective of the world.

'You can't label people as good or evil I guess. Your House don't represent whether you are good or evil. I need to be more receptive towards Slytherins' other than the blonde ponce.' He mused.

"Stop Neville if you add Fluxweed now there might be an unpleasant reaction" Harry warned before he could blow up his cauldron. Neville was shaking a bit.

"Thanks Harry. I'm pants at potions you know. I'm scared of Snape more than anything." Neville said quietly.

"I want everyone to bottle your potions and label them. We will use it in the next class. On Friday I expect to see a ten inch essay on the uses of Black fire potion. Failing to do so will earn you detention." Snape's voice rang through the class making Neville jump.

After gathering his things and Neville's he exited the class and waited for Neville to finish labeling his potion. He saw Hermione sending a longing look at him before brushing past him in a hurry.

"Phew, this must be how prisoners feel when they get there freedom." Neville said coming out of the class wiping his brow. Harry laughed and gave him his bag. He slung his arm over Neville's shoulder and dragged him towards the Great hall.

"C,mon mate it ain't that bad. You know what, a good meal would solve all your problems." He said cheerfully.

"What got you in such a good mood all of the sudden. I noticed it when you came to potions too. You were smiling from ear to ear." Neville asked looking curious.

Harry chuckled and replied, "Well I realized that I'm not alone anymore you know. Thanks for sticking by my side Nev." He said not mentioning Daphne. It wasn't that he wanted to hide their... friendship? But he wasn't eager to scream it from top of the astronomy tower either.

Neville punched him and dropped down to a seat in the great hall. Harry sat next to him and helped him to some food completely ignoring the rest of the school. As he worked his way through the meal he had a sudden epiphany that made him sit straight.

'Sirius!' he remembered.

"What is it Harry?" Neville asked noticing Harry's posture.

Harry looked at him with such intensity that Neville backed away a bit. He was wondering if he should trust Neville with one of his closely guarded secrets. Deciding that Neville was trustworthy he motioned Neville to get closer while casting some privacy charms.

"Nev what I'm about to say is one of my biggest secrets, I'm trusting you with this mate. The only people who know this is Professor Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione and Professor Lupin to the best of my knowledge" he said seriously.

Nevilles eyes widened a bit before he took a determined expression. "I won't betray your trust Harry" he responded firmly.

Harry looked at Neville for another moment and then nodded. He told the entire story from how he learned about the supposed betrayal of Sirius Black to the time travel adventure he had with Hermione.

"So he is innocent." Neville said stunned. "Do you know where he is?" he questioned.

"No but I'm pretty sure I can send mail to him. That was what I was thinking just before you asked me. I can ask for his advice and just talk to him, he's like my only remaining family." Harry responded solemly.

Neville gripped Harry's shoulder and tried to give him some comfort. They sat there in silence for sometime, each engrossed in his own thoughts.

"Well we have the rest of the day free." Neville broke the silence. I have to start on that Herbology project. Do you have anything you need help with mate?" He asked.

"Nah not right now. I need to plan and decide on what to work for the tournament. They didn't say anything about the task so it's hard to decide on what to focus on."

'Not to mention I am meeting Daphne in a bit' Harry thought.

Neville gave a nod and got up. He gave pat to his shoulder and said, "Well I'm off to the greenhouse." Harry nodded and got up as well. He put hands inside his pockets and leisurely strolled towards his 'spot' near the lake.

...

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 **A/N: So how was it. Neville won't be his only friend, I always thought J.K could've played around with her unverse a bit more, explore other characters you know. I'll try to make it more original and also drop the pace a bit cuz the last chapter made the story a bit fast paced.  
Thank you for reading all! Please review. As always constructive criticism is welcome flames will be ignored!**

 **Fun Fact: Black fire potion is indeed a potion found in Harry Potter universe! It lets you move through Black fire uninjured apparently.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey all! Here's the next chapter hope you like it! A big thank you to all who reviewed, favorite and followed.**

Disclaimer : I might own Harry Potter in another 200 years. I don't Harry Potter right now though.

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...

Daphne was already there by the time he reached his spot by the lake. She was reading a book and was oblivious to his approach.

"Sorry I'm a bit late, was talking with Neville and wasn't paying attention to the time." He said sitting on a stone near the tree.

Daphne looked up from her book and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before saying, "It's fine. So tell me, do you know what the first task is?" she inquired straight away.

"No, they didn't tell us. Something about testing our courage and daring or what not." He responded dismissively.

"Well that won't work, Potter you need to find out what the first task is." She said leveling him an impassive stare.

"Wait, why? I mean won't that be cheating?" he asked confused.

Daphne sighed, "Potter you are still naive, I bet you anything Krum and Delacour would know what the task is beforehand. Although Diggory might not, knowing Dumbledore he will probably play by the rules." she explained.

Harry was a bit bemused, but still nodded, "I suppose, if I want to survive this I'll have to use every advantage I can get. The only thing I can do is keep my eye and ears open I guess."

Daphne looked thoughtful and Harry took the time to look at her. She was quite pretty he had to admit. With her blond hair and piercing blue eyes, along with her shapely figure, no wonder guys were interested in her.

"We need to go to the library Potter." she said suddenly. "The Tri Wizard Tournament was banned in 1792 if I am not mistaken. So the records of the tournaments before 1792 should be there in the library."

Harry blinked, then stood up with a large grin. "That means we can see if there is a recurring pattern in the tasks that were held in past tournaments." He exclaimed.

Daphne smirked, "So you do have a brain. Well come on lets go." She said. Harry raised an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything.

"Well are you coming?" She asked as she walked away towards the castle briskly. Chuckling he followed her a lagging behind a bit.

'The rumour mill will have a field day if someone sees the two of us together. Better keep a fair distance between us.' Harry thought. It was bad enough that he had to be labeled as a liar and a cheat, he didn't want to deal with anything else.

Daphne seemed to have the same idea since she picked up her pace and walked towards the library without looking back. After reaching the first floor he quickly made his way towards the library. Madame Pince glanced at him as he entered and gave him a look that clearly said 'behave'. He smiled at the librarian and set out to find Daphne.

It took him about a minute to find her as she was in a very secluded area which was ideal for them to talk without being disturbed. "So how do we do this?" Harry asked.

"Potter you have never done research alone have you?" Daphne asked in a deadpan manner. "Nevermind don't answer. First thing about magical libraries is that they have magical indexes. What I mean is we don't have to look through all the aisles to find the books we want." She explained.

"Oh... wow. I never knew that. Then again I never had to research anything, I mean Hermione always suggested the books we want and all that." He said ruffling his hair. "So how exactly does this work. Do we have to know the title or..."

"No, don't be daft Potter if we knew the title we don't need this. What we do is we write the keywords we want in the index. And the top 10 books which contain the word we wrote the most number of times will be summoned to the table right there." She said pointing at a table to their right. "If we can't find what we want we add more keywords. If that doesn't work either... well we'll have to ask Madame Pince or do it manually I guess." She finished.

Harry nodded. "Sounds simple enough. Let me try. We'll write the words, Tri Wizard Tournament, 1792 and first task. There we go." Just as he said that 10 books came gliding from various sections of the library.

He picked the first book he saw. 'The history of the Tri Wizard Tournament : 1294-1792' it said. "Daphne, I think we found what we wanted!" He said to the blond next to him who was looking at a book called, 'A Wizarding History by Laurence McCutcheon'. She looked at the book he was holding and gave a nod.

"Let's go back to the table." She said seeing Susan Bones and Hannah Abott heading their way. Once there, Daphne took the book and started to skim through it. Harry though got up and headed towards the index again since he was bored. He thought for a while and wrote, 'Nature of magic.' When the books arrived he looked at each of them and finally decided to read a book titled, 'The essence of magic.' It looked quite old and Harry was quite intrigued.

Grabbing the book he went back to the table and saw Daphne engrossed in the book. Sitting down heavily next to her he glanced over her shoulder to see that she was reading about the 1652 Tournament. Focusing on the book in his hand Harry started to read the book.

It was quite interesting to say the least. It started by giving a brief idea on what magic was. According to the author, it is a primal force which exists without a known origin. It goes on to say that magic is semi-sentient and was of 2 types. Magic within someone or something and ambient magic. The book talks about magic within a person in other words wizards magic mainly. Just as he got to the second chapter Daphne interrupted him.

"Potter I think we are onto something, quick give me some parchment." She ordered. Checking inside his robes he found some parchment and gave it to Daphne who grabbed the ink bottle and quill that was on the table.

"So it's like this. I just went through the first tasks of about 30 tournaments; Both old and new. In the beginning there was no pattern. Sometimes they checked your strength, sometimes your wit and so on. But the last 15 tournaments before it was banned had a slight pattern to them." She told him.

"Wow that was quick. We were only here for about an hour or so. What is this pattern you found out then." He asked curiously. It seems that asking Daphne for help might have been the best thing he'd done this whole year.

"Well the first task is normally a challenge where you have to survive while pitted against some kind of magical beast. Normally it's done as a solo event. But out of the ones I checked, there have been 2 times where all three champions were in a single arena and a clutter of acromantula was released." Harry shuddered not relishing that thought. He still had nightmares about Aragog from his 2nd year.

"Is it always against a magical beast? What's the most dangerous beast they've used." He asked hesitantly.

"From what I read yes, it is mostly a magical beast. The most dangerous beast out of the ones I read is... erm" she checked the parchment in which she took notes. "A Wyvern. It's an ancestor of dragons and said to be close to extinction these days, so I doubt they'll use a Wyvern." She said trying to reassure him a bit.

"So I think we need to research defensive spells right? I mean they won't expect me to kill whatever they pit me up against so..." He ventured a guess.

"I agree, but we'll look through some offensive ones too. Offense makes defense that much more effective. So you'll have to tutor me in those spells too Potter." She finished smugly. Harry raised his eyebrow and gave a laugh. "Alright, alright I'll keep my end of the bargain too." He said.

"Potter you might want to read ahead of the books too. I mean the 4th year work. If you can be at least close to year 5 stuff, you might have some more options against whatever you are facing." She said seriously. It was the most expressive she has been since he saw her.

He nodded solemnly. "I'll try. I wish I had more time though." He sighed, "Oh well I'll start now I guess. I'll go through the 4th year Transfiguration now." He said more to himself than Daphne.

She nodded and said, "You better find some place to practice spells too. Not to mention you have to tutor me as well. I'll leave that up to you. In the mean time I'll see what I can dig up from the pureblood circles about the First Task."

He looked at her in surprise and smiled at her in gratitude. "Thank you, Daphne." He said trying to express his heartfelt gratitude. Daphne looked at him and smiled; the first real smile he had seen from her. It lit up her entire face.

"You're welcome Potter." She simply said.

"Well then I should probably go and start working on my Transfiguration." He started awkwardly. "When I find some place to practice I'll send an owl." He said finally.

Daphne agreed, "If I find out anything I'll contact you." she added before standing up and starting to leave. Harry gave a small wave when she looked at him. About 5 minutes after Daphne left, he too left the library after he showed the book he was borrowing to Madame Pince.

'That went better than I ever expected.' He thought. He felt that they were friends now. He was surprisingly comfortable around Daphne and it was good to have her as a friend.

People who saw Harry gave him curious looks when they saw a happy Harry Potter. He was however oblivious to their stares as he was too engrossed in his thoughts.

...

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 **A/N: So Harry get serious about the tournament. We'll probably see some fillers the next few chapters to set the tone of the story. As always thanks for reading and constructive criticism is welcome.**

 **Fun facts: The TWT has been established around 700 years ago. The first tournament was indeed held in 1294. It was banned due to high death toll in 1792. There have been at least 125 editions of the Tournament. Hogwarts won 63, Beauxbatons won 62** **!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey all! Chapter 7 is here. I'm typing with my phone so it's a bit hard to check for mistakes. Please forgive me if I do make any. A big thank you again for all who reviewed, favorite and followed. You guys keep me going :) Let's get on with it then!  
P.S: I'll try to increase the word count after this chapter. I've been averaging about 1.6K words per chapter I'll try to push it to 3K at least.**

Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter. I write this purely for my amusement and make no profit from this.

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"Astus." Daphne intoned to the damp wall which hid the Slytherin common room. She remembered the first time she came to the common room and the awe she felt being literally under the Black Lake. The Slytherin common room is lit in an eerie green colour, and the decor screams of luxury.

She was coming back from her meeting with Harry Potter and it was surprising how much she enjoyed his company. In the beginning of this year if someone had told Daphne that she would be spending her free periods with Potter she would have given them the 'Ice Queen' treatment. Shrugging to herself she tried to put some more pieces in the puzzle that was Harry Potter.

"Daphne there you are!" She heard her best friend's voice from the direction of the girls dorms. "I've been looking all over for you. Where were you?" She asked inquisitively.

"Walking around aimlessly." She lied easily. So why were you looking for me?" Tracey gave her a weird look but didn't say anything.

"Do I need a reason to look for my best friend?" she questioned.

"I suppose not. So why were you looking for me again?" Daphne asked as she walked into the room they shared.

"I was just bored. Blaise as usual turned into an arrogant ponce so I left him alone with his vanity. Honestly I don't know what his problem is. One moment he's fine and the next he...-" Tracey started to rant.

Daphne tuned Tracey out with ease. This was a skill she honed with years of practice. Instead she started thinking about how her friendship with Potter would affect her family.

'Our family has always been neutral in the wars of the past, so if I were to be seen with Potter how will it affect our social standing among other pureblood families?' she mused.

"Anyways did you see Draco earlier?" Daphne heard Tracey ask. "He was bragging about how Potter won't even survive the first task. There is a betting pool it seems. I wonder what the first task is. Any ideas Daph?" she asked her at last.

"No, but I won't count Potter out yet though. He has a knack of turning the odds and coming out on top." She replied absently.

Tracey got a mischievous look and Daphne was already regretting what she said. "So you _are_ rooting for Potter. Tell me the truth. You like Potter don't you." Tracey asked excitedly.

She expertly dismissed Tracey, "Tracey you need a boyfriend. You are trying to vent your frustration through me." Daphne said with a smirk.

Tracey pouted and looked away. They fell into a companionable silence. Daphne checking what homework she had left while Tracey playing with a strand of her hair.

"Ok I've only got Snape's essay on Black fire potion left. I'm going to do it now. Want to join me Trace?" Daphne asked glancing at Tracey.

"Sure, why not? I have DADA homework due on Thursday as well so let me grab that as well."

Daphne gave a slight nod. After Tracey got her stuff they headed towards the library to find research material. A quick walk along the first floor corridor later, they were at the library. They worked silently for a good hour and a half. Daphne finished her potions essay and was ready to leave. She saw Tracey adding the finishing touches to her essay as well.

"I'm done. Do you want me to wait for you Trace?" She asked.

"No it's ok. I'll just finish this conclusion and borrow some books for Moody's essay before leaving. I'll head straight for the Great hall." Tracey said seeing it was almost dinnertime.

Daphne nodded and grabbed her bag. Leaving the library she thought about writing a letter to her father asking for advice. After entering the common room she quickly went to their dorm room and penned a note to her father.

 _Dear Father,_

 _I hope your doing fine. You must be wondering why I wrote this letter seeing as I rarely write to you. The reason I wrote this letter is that I want your help and advice father. I recently befriended Harry Potter; and yes Harry Potter as in 'the-boy-who-lived'. He wasn't what I expected which isn't a bad thing at all. I want your opinion on this father. Do you approve of this friendship? I wanted to ask this now since our friendship is still in it's infancy and it'll be easier for me to cut ties with him if it'll affect our family in a negative way. I feel strangely at ease with him father so I do hope I can be friends with him._

 _Now the favour I wanted to ask you is regarding the Tri Wizard Tournament. Associating Potter I've developed an interest in it. If you hear anything about what the first task might entail, could you please owl me about it father. Give my love to mother as well._

 _Love,_  
 _Daphne._

Going through the letter twice Daphne was happy with it. She cast a quick tempus charm and saw that it was nearly quarter past seven. She debated whether to go to the owlery now or go to it after dinner. Deciding that the letter can wait she put it inside her robes and headed towards the Great Hall. Entering the Hall she saw Tracey at once. She was waving at her. Giving her a small smile she headed that way.

"I was about to come to the common room and get you. What took you so long?" She asked straight away.

"I was talking to Burke a bit. She started to rant about some muggles." She lied again. She was lying a lot lately she noticed. "Also I walked here slowly so took some time." Daphne finished.

Tracey gave a nod and helped herself to some food. Daphne took the time to survey the Hall. She noticed that Potter and Longbottom wasn't there. Granger was there looking quite subdued. Shrugging she started to dig in as well.

Halfway through the meal she saw Potter enter with Longbottom. She caught his emerald eyes. He sent a smile her way. She just nodded slightly acknowledging him. Finishing her meal she saw Tracey talking with Millie so she nudged her and indicated she was leaving.

Tracey looked at her and gave a small wave. "Catch you later Daph!" she said before turning back to her conversation with Millie. Feeling Draco's eyes on her she turned a bit and gave him the 'Ice Queen' treatment. Seeing the Malfoy scion look away she started to leave the Hall. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and cast a tempus to check the time.

Deciding to go to the owlery now she started to walk briskly towards the top of the West tower where the owlery was located.

...

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 **A/N : Daphne isn't emotionless in this story. She has a better grasp on her emotion that most students. So people won't be surprised to see her smiling in this.  
Thank you for reading! I'll try to get 2 more chapters in quickly. As always constructive criticism is more than welcome!**

 **Fun Facts : 'Astus' means cunning or guile in Latin. There is a portrait of Elizabeth Burke (related to Burke from Borgin and Burkes') in the Slytherin dungeons encouraging students to be mean to 'mudbloods'!**

 **Edit: I came back home and edited this chapter. I don't think I got all the mistakes but it is better than it was I hope. I was shocked to see the amount of mistakes. I won't type on my phone anytime soon .**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi all! Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the delay I edited some of my previous chapters. When I checked the chapters I uploaded from my phone I noticed there were some huge mistakes. Hopefully I managed to minimize them. THANK YOU to all who reviewed, followed and favorite this story.**

 **Ok there was a guest reviewer named PaC. He raised some interesting points so I decided to answer them here since I can't send a PM. This'll be long if you want to skip it, be my guest. Hope you read this PaC!  
**

 **First thank you for reviewing. Thank you for all your views and pointing the flaws in this fic, I've taken what you said into consideration. Second this is my first fanfic so I'm sorry if I made any mistakes. Thank you for your views on Daphne. Moving on, I do try to keep it close to canon but I don't type by looking at the book. I haven't even read a HP book in 5 years! :) Next about the other characters; Ron won't be totally immature, he'll be a git yes, jealous yes, an idiot? NO. He won't be a close friend either. Regarding Hermione this chapter should answer that question. The part about Harry being too mature and forgiving than canon. You might be right there. As a means of justification I'll say this. Harry talked with Sirius via owl mail before the start of 4th year in this fic _more_ than in canon. Sirius became more of a key role (as he should have been) in this. (I don't mean he completely turned Harry into a copy of himself. He told some stories from his school days. James and Sirius were after all immature and thus Harry could translate that to his problem with Ron.) However I also tried to portray the fact that the tournament is forcing Harry to grow up. The part you said about this fic being Haphne so ****Hermione** ** _has to_ drift apart.. well read on though it won't be what you expect. Next this being a non-bash fic won't mean Harry will take shit from anyone, Daphne will see to that. :P Harry won't be a wimp I'll guarantee you that. Finally there are lot of people in gryffindor that want to believe in Harry, but being swept away by popular opinion. (But Harry doesn't know this so he assumes.) Cedric is an extremely confident character so he spoke his mind to Harry. Hearing this from an adversary made more impact to Harry. To him that translated; if an outsider trust me at least partially, my own house should trust me completely! I think I answered all your questions. Once again THANK YOU for reading and reviewing PaC, pls give me more constructive criticism if you can.**

 **Without further ado!**

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own Harry Potter. If I did I probably won't be writing this! XD

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...

Harry was having a surprisingly good week. When his name came out of the Goblet of fire things looked pretty bleak. Adding Ron's jealousy and other Gryffindors doubts to it just fueled the fire. However after befriending Neville and Daphne it became so much more bearable. It has been 2 days since he talked with Daphne and he had been busy ever since. He started with Transfiguration, currently he had revised the year 4 Transfiguration book up to the current chapter they were studying with McGonagall. He hadn't even completed quarter of the year 4 textbook but Harry felt an odd sense of satisfaction. It was initially hard to study on his on. Many times he had to remind himself that Hermione wasn't there. But gradually he started to get the hang of it. He had a long way to go but he finally felt that he was getting somewhere. Yesterday before dinner he managed to get in a good 3 hrs of studying.

Finishing his morning ablutions he came back to his dorm to see Neville still sleeping. Deciding to let him sleep Harry put on his robe and got ready to head down to the Great Hall. The Gryffindors were acting indifferently towards him when he passed the common room, he in return ignored them.

Yesterday he wrote to Sirius. He explained his entire situation and even added the students reactions, though he didn't mention his friendship with Daphne. It was good to put all his worries in to words and he hoped that Sirius would reply to him soon. As he was passing the first floor he saw Hermione coming from the direction of the library. Hermione stopped and he could see a myriad of emotions passing through her face. Finally her face took on a determined expression and she approached him.

"Good morning Harry. Can we talk?" She asked looking towards an empty classroom.

He shrugged an answered, "Sure Hermione, and good morning to you too." He followed her inside the empty classroom closing the door behind him. There was a moment of silence. Finally Hermione broke it and started to speak.

"Harry I believe you. I know I should have believed you from the start even if logic said otherwise. I'm sorry...-" She started, but Harry quickly interrupted her.

"It's ok Hermione. I understand, though as I said earlier my trust in you is broken. Not broken beyond repair I might add." He said with a smile.

Hermione gave him a huge smile, eyes glistening with tears. Suddenly her smile diminished and she avoided his eyes. She took a deep breath and started again, "Thank you Harry. I was so scared that I would lose your friendship I couldn't even concentrate on McGonagall's essay." she said. "Harry you and Ron are my only friends. I don't want to lose either of you. I said this to Ron too but I won't choose a side between you two until you settle your argument." She managed in one breath. She bit her lower lip and shuffled nervously.

Harry sighed and nodded, "I understand Hermione. But I won't apologize though, I haven't done anything wrong here you know." He said ruffling his hair.

"I know Harry, and Ron feels the same. He's just too prideful and you know he wanted to be a champion so...-" Hermione replied before getting interrupted by Harry again.

"Yeah yeah I know. His heart is in the right place and I was proud to call him a friend _most_ of the time. Emphasis on most." He said remembering their 3rd Year adventure.

-Flashback-

 _Without knowing what he was doing, Harry started forward, but there was a sudden movement on either side of him and two pairs of hands grabbed him and held him back…"No, Harry!" Hermione gasped in a petrified whisper; Ron, however, spoke to Black._

 _"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" he said fiercely, though the effort of standing upright was draining him of still more color, and he swayed slightly as he spoke._

 _"Lie down,"Sirius said quietly to Ron. "You will damage that leg even more."_

 _"Did you hear me?" Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. "You'll have to kill all three of us!"_

-Flashback ends-

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he kept talking.

"But I'm getting tired of his contant bickering. He always gets this look when the topic of my wealth came up too. The Weasleys' are poor I know, but still. Like the time I bought you guys omniculars remember. If he asks I will forgive him but i will NOT forget." He finished quite firmly. He paused again. "I just realized these last two days how stupid I was to ignore Neville. He is a great friend and I'm happy to finally realize this."

They fell into an awkward silence again. Hermione looked quite sad. Sighing he put an arm on Hermione's shoulder.

"Hermione you are a wonderful person. Go and talk to people and make friends. _Be_ brave, I know people will like the real Hermione Granger. Remember this, I will always be your friend Hermione, I don't know if we would be close as we were but you can talk to me anytime you want. Ok?" He tried to reassure her.

She nodded giving him a small smile. "But are you ok, I know Neville is your friend now and all but it must be hard to be isolated from the school again." She asked looking quite concerned."

"Sure I am. I _am_ Harry Potter after all." He said puffing his chest out and smirking.

"Prat." She said slapping his arm. Letting out a breath, she started to speak again; "I should be helping you now instead of hiding. You must think I'm a coward." She said sadly.

"It's fine Hermione. I did some research and I have a vague idea about the task, also I'm taking my academics seriously now. I'm not smart as you are but I am quite good in practical magic." He said smugly.

"Who are you and what did you do with Harry Potter?" She asked raising both her her eyebrows.

"O ye of little faith. C,mon Hermione I'm not that bad." He said with a grin.

"Yes. Yes, you are. But I'm glad to see that you've finally gotten a bit of confidence Harry. You're a great wizard Harry. I meant what I said in First year. You _are_ powerful; even I can't do a corporal patronus yet you know." She said surprising Harry a bit.

Harry blinked and shot her a thankful smile rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. He coughed a bit and tried to change the subject.

"I guess you won't be joining me for breakfast then." He said. Hermione looked sad a bit and bit her lower lip again. Harry sensing her discomfort gave her a hug. After releasing her he said, "It's fine Hermione I understand, remember we talked about this already." and gave her a lop sided smile. Before she could answer he gave a quick wave and turned to leave. "I'll see you around Hermione." he said as he was leaving.

Smiling to himself he resumed his trek towards the Great Hall. 'I get a feeling that this'll be a good day.' He thought as he entered the Hall. He turned towards the Slytherin table and saw Daphne there surprising alone. It had been a habit of his to look towards the Slytherin table when he enter the Hall. He sent her a lop sided smile and to his surprise she gave a small smile in return."

'She must be in a good mood today.' he mused.

Sitting down he grabbed some toast and started to eat. Not ten seconds later he felt someone drop heavily next to him.

"Morning Nev." Harry greeted his now best friend cheerfully.

"Oh hi Harry. You could have woken me up before you left you know." He said while helping himself to some food.

"Thought you needed your beauty sleep mate." Harry shot back cheekily.

"You seem chipper this morning. Had a nice dream?" Neville asked nonchalantly.

"It might have something to do with the glare Susan Bones seems to be sending my way periodically." He joked. Neville smirked and kept eating. The shy boy is acting much more naturally around him now. He still crawled back inside his shell when there were too many people around or if Snivellus was around.

"Hermione talked to me earlier." Harry started evenly. Neville turned to him curiously. "She said that she believed me." He said with a small smile. Neville grinned and patted his back.

"Always knew Hermione was smart. So I'm guessing the reason you're not sitting with her is that she wanted to stay out yours and Ron's little feud." he asked looking at Hermione sitting a little way away from where they were.

Harry looked at him in surprise. "As a matter of fact yes. You are smarter than you look Nev." He joked. Neville rolled his eyes and resumed eating.

After finishing eating Harry got up. Casting a tempus charm showed that they had 15 minutes for Transfiguration. "Let's get our bags and head to Transfiguration Nev." He said to the plump boy. Walking out of the Hall he noted that Daphne had already left.

He had been thinking about Daphne a lot recently. Mainly about what to teach her. He is good in Defense but he had never taught anyone before so he was a bit skeptical about tutoring Daphne. He also didn't find a place to practice his spells either. The most secretive and spacious place he could think of was the Chamber of Secrets. Then again he doubted Daphne wanted to practice next to a giant dead snake. There also was that chamber he found the mirror of Erised in, come to think of it the room where he fought Quirrel might not be bad either. Though both were pretty out of the way.

Neville gave Fat Lady the password and they entered the common room. Grabbing the transfiguration text book that laid on his bed and some spare parchment, he shoved it inside his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Seeing that Neville was ready they slowly headed towards the Transfiguration classroom.

...

* * *

...

"Turn to page 45." McGonagall intoned in her no-nonsense voice.

Seeing that it covered the basic theory of Animagus transformation he groaned inwardly. He just finished reading it yesterday, so undoubtedly he was going to be bored. As time passed he quickly got distracted.

"Now human transfiguration and Animagi transfiguration is two completely different things." McGonagall rambled on. "Who can tell me about this difference." He saw Hermione's hand shot up and quietly chuckled to himself. Ignoring McGonagall he tried to read from where he stopped yesterday.

"Perhaps Mr. Potter could enlighten us, seeing as he clearly isn't paying attention." McGonagall suddenly asked him in a disapproving tone. Looking around he saw the classes' attention focused on him. Malfoy was smirking while Daphne had a hint of a frown on her face. Smirking he turned to McGonagall and started to explain much to the transfiguration mistress's surprise.

"Well Professor, an Animagus is limited by the fact that they can only transfigure into one kind of animal. Conversely, general Human Transfiguration is more varied in that it allows one to transform another into a plethora of different animals but, on the other hand, the object of transfiguration will then possess the intelligence of the creature they become. Unlike Animagi, who retain all their mental faculties in animal form. If this is an animal of lower intelligence; which is more likely than not, then one will by extension be entirely dependent on the caster to untransfigure them, which could potentially cause someone to be stuck in that form forever. This is why it is not recommended to cast this type of transfiguration on oneself." He finished.

The whole class blinked. He saw from the corner of his eye that Daphne was sending him an amused smile. She nodded at him slightly and turned to McGonagall who was opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water.

"May I sit professor?" He asked politely. McGonagall cleared her throat and stammered a reply. "Er.. yes Mr. Potter you may. Thank you for that excellent explanation. Take 20 points Mr. Potter." She said before turning to the rest of the class. "As you heard from Mr. Potter, it is indeed..." she continued to teach.

Neville turned to him with wide eyes and whispered in an awed manner, "Bloody hell Harry, when did you start to study?" smirking at his best friend he replied quietly. "The day after the goblet spitted out my name. I realized I can't sit around doing nothing forever. I've only studied a bit of Transfiguration so far though."

"Still that was pretty good. I'm impressed. Did you see Malfoy's face?" he whispered back. Harry just grinned without saying anything as McGonagall was starting to give them the evil eye.

The rest of the class progressed without a hitch. They didn't have any practical lessons today so when the class ended Harry sighed in relief. He realized that they had nothing the entire day other than DADA during the last two periods. Wanting to talk to Daphne again he penned a note to her and quickly grabbed his bag.

"Nev I'll catch you later. Just had an idea for the first task. I'm going to pop in to the library to grab a book." He told Neville before hastily patting his back and leaving, trying to catch Daphne.

Seeing her with her friend he quickly went inside a broom closet and donned his invisibility cloak. Since he entered without closing the door he managed to inconspicuously exit the closet. He then started to head towards Daphne. Once he got close enough he tapped Daphne shoulder. She turned around, but seeing no one looked quite nonplussed.

"What is it Daphne?" Her friend Tracey Davis asked Daphne looking around herself.

"Nothing, must be my imagination." She said more to herself.

He grinned to himself and started following them again. Silencing his feet he got even closer and whispered quietly; "Daphne it's me Harry."

Daphne whirled around looking shocked. Seeing no one she looked puzzled again.

"Daph are you okay?" Tracey asked concerned.

"I'm fine, let's go." She said walking a little slower than earlier. Smiling he kept close to Daphne again."

"Listen, I'm going to give you a note. Read it. See you soon." He said in a barely audible tone. She gave a very slight nod, frowning slightly.

Harry pushed the small piece of paper in to her hand and quickly left them seeing as he was perilously close to the entrance of the Slytherin common room. Chuckling to himself he headed towards the Gryffindor common room eager to put his stuff away and go to his spot.

'I must do that again. The look on her face was priceless.' Harry thought to himself.

...

 **A/N: There you go. Another filler of sorts. Harry is coming to his own. Also the flashback I added is from Book 3. Next chapter will be Daphne's POV I think. I'll try to update soon.  
Thank you for reading. Review and as always, constructive criticism is welcome flames will be ignored!**

 **Fun Facts: The explanation I gave on Human an Animagi transformation is 100% accurate. XD  
Movie Ron says something completely different what is said in the flashback I added earlier.**

 **Forgot to reread so edited it half an hour after I uploaded it sry people .**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey all! Chapter 9 is here. Thank you for all the reviews people, not to mention the Favorites and Follows I got. Sry about the delay in posting this. I typed 3/4th of this and idiotically closed the window before saving it. After feeling sorry myself for a bit I wrote it again :P**

 **Just a small note, before year 4 started, Harry wrote to Sirius and kept in contact with him more than in canon. Sirius shared some of his stories during his school days with Harry. The fact that Harry was so understanding towards Ron was because Sirius and James often had rows like that when they were kids. (They were quite immature after all; ask Snape about it!) The difference; they grew up and also Harry has way more problems than James ever did. :P So take that into consideration reading this story .**

 **With that done let's get on with the show!**

 **Disclaimer :** I don't own Harry Potter and probably never will! :)

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...

Daphne felt a piece of paper being thrust into her hand.

'By Morgana! Couldn't he find a better way to talk to me?' She thought irritatedly. She clutched the note again and her irritation changed to mild curiosity. 'Wonder what Harry wants' she mused. 'Wait when did it become Harry?' She thought.

"Daph. Daphne you still there?" Tracey asked, her face wearing a look of both concern and annoyance. Daphne took a deep breathe and schooled her features.

"I'm fine Tracey. Sorry just got a bit distracted I guess." She said. Tracey huffed and looked away.

"Whatever, you've been preoccupied a lot lately. One of these days I'm going to find out what you are hiding from me." she said indignantly.

"You are just imagining things Trace. You know you're my best friend right?" She asked bumping her shoulder with Tracey while giving her a small smile.

"Well alright I'll drop it, but I know you're up to something." She said fiercely. "Like that letter you got from your dad. I mean you never write to your dad." She stated challengingly.

Daphne didn't answer, instead chose to raise an eyebrow and give Tracey a look which clearly said, 'And your point is?' Tracey just sighed.

"Anyways, we have the rest of the day free until double DADA. Do you have any plans?" She asked after shaking her head a bit. Daphne gave her a genuine smile. She was really was lucky to have a friend like Tracey.

"No. I was planning to start on that Transfiguration homework McGonagall just gave us." Tracey pouted.

"C,mon Daph we have an entire week to complete it. You need to relax." She whined. "Speaking of Transfiguration, I was so surprised when Potter managed to answer that question. I mean you would think that without Granger by his side he would be slacking." She started to ramble.

Shaking her head at Tracey she started to tune her out. 'Typical Tracey.' She thought with an amused smile. They entered the Slytherin common room like that; Tracey gossiping about Potter and the fate of the Golden Trio while Daphne pretended to listen to her. As they were heading towards the girls' dormitories, they were rudely interrupted by none other than Draco Malfoy; the self appointed Prince of Slytherin.

"Clear off Davis, I need to speak with Daphne." He butted in.

Tracey bristled and was about to come up with a nasty comeback. Daphne gently touched her arm. "You go on ahead Trace. I can handle Draco myself" she said evenly. Tracey gave her a dubious look before nodding and heading towards the girls' dorms, glancing at Daphne every now and then.

Turning to Malfoy; "What do you need Draco." She grudgingly spat out.

"Now now, there's no need for hostility. I just wanted to talk to a dear friend, and perhaps have an intelligent conversation for a change. Merlin, you can't imagine how thick Pansy is at times." He said smirking. "Walk with me Daphne." he said before turning and heading towards the common rooms exit.

'The nerve of him. He didn't even ask if I wanted to walk with him.' She thought fuming to herself. Ignoring Malfoy she started to walk towards the girls' dorms again.

"Where are you going Greengrass?" Malfoy questioned with a hint of anger in his tone. Daphne didn't answer. "No one ignores a Malfoy." She heard him say and sensed his approach. Grabbing her wand she whirled around pointing her wand at Malfoy.

"Listen to me Malfoy. I'm not one of your lackeys to answer to your every command. Now I have better things to do than wasting my time talking to you, so I'll say it loud and clear; leave me alone." she hissed coldly, looking every bit the Ice Queen she was rumored to be. From the corner of her eye she noticed that they were gathering an audience. Shooting a final glare at the Malfoy scion she resumed her trek towards the dorms. Thankfully she managed to reach the room she shared with Tracey without any further interruptions. Entering the room she was met with a furious Tracey.

"What did that idiot want? I really want to punch his smug face." She ranted. Seeing Tracey like this managed to calm Daphne a little and she let out a small laugh.

"Calm down Trace. He wanted to 'talk' to me. I gave him the Ice Queen treatment and threatened him at wand-point." She said smugly. Hearing this Tracey managed to calm down.

"Well good, I thought Blaise was bad sometimes but Malfoy is on another level." She said. "Well what do we do now?" She asked. Daphne put her hand inside of her robe and felt the note Harr-... Potter gave her.

"I'm going to take a walk and clear my head. See you later Trace." She said. Tracey nodded and said, "Ok, I'm going to find Millie."

They walked back to the common room and to Daphne's relief Malfoy was no where to be seen. Giving a small wave to Tracey she headed towards the entrance hall. On the way she took the note and read it.

 _Daphne,_

 _Seeing as we're free till DADA, I wanted to have another chat with you. If you aren't busy come to 'our' spot near the lake. I'll be there._

 _Harry._

She smiled at the mention of 'our' spot, she didn't know what it was, but she felt happy that he referred to it that way. She quickened her pace and headed towards 'their' spot.

Yesterday during lunch she received her father's reply to her letter. He was happy to hear from her and expressed his surprise at her friendship with Potter. He explained to her that it'll be seen as act of aligning with the light side but encouraged her to pursue her friendship saying; 'Potter is an unknown in the Political arena. People assume that he is Dumbledore's man but he himself might be neutral.' She smiled when she remembered her father telling her 'not to worry about politics and have fun' in the letter.

Daphne was surprisingly relieved to hear from her father that she can be friends with Potter. She thought it wouldn't affect her but it did. Seeing that she was close to their spot she quickly covered the rest of the distance and saw that Potter was engrossed in a book which looked a lot like the Transfiguration text book. Wanting to get some revenge for the way he gave her the note, Daphne silenced her shoes and went around Potter so that she was facing his back. Levitating some water she carefully crept closer to him. The with a flourish she canceled the levitation charm right on top of Potter's head.

"Argh... Who in bloody hell did... Merlin's balls, Daphne? He said getting up, looking around wildly.

"That Mr. Potter was for scaring me before." She said trying her best not to laugh. She looked at Potter again to see him rolling his eyes.

"You evil Slytherin. Do you know how cold the water is?" He questioned sarcastically. Taking his wand out he cast a few drying charms. "Well at least the book was safe."

"Of course. After all the book didn't do anything to me." She retorted haughtily. Potter gave her a deadpan look but didn't answer. Instead he sat down next to her.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Daphne asked after a moment of silence.

"Nothing much, just wanted to talk to you I guess, well I wanted your opinion on some of the places I have in mind for your tutoring lessons." He answered ruffling his hair making it even messier.

"Well let's here them." she asked a bit surprised about how serious Potter was about tutoring her. 'He must be really thankful.' She mused. 'I like his hair too.' She randomly thought before catching herself.

"Well there's this unused classroom on the 4th floor. It's quite spacious too. I once found something interesting in it during my first year." He said oblivious to her thoughts.

"Something interesting? Like what?" Daphne questioned curiously. Potter looked nervous but sighed and said; "I found a mirror in that room." She gave him a glare.

"Wait let me finish." He held out his hand with a small smirk. "This mirror wasn't a normal mirror. It shows deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts." He finished solemnly looking at the lake with a somber expression.

Sensing his sorrow Daphne kept silent. 'I wonder what he saw in the mirror.' As if reading her mind he quietly said, "I saw myself surrounded by my parents. I saw several smiling family members. Some had the same green eyes, one had the same knees, one of my grandmothers was nodding and smiling at the same time. They were all dead too." he finished sadly.

Daphne felt a stabbing pain in her heart when she saw his sad emerald orbs and engulfed him in a hug. He felt him stiffen at first, but slowly felt him relax. They stayed that way for some time listening to the sound of the lake and each others breathing.

She released him and gave him a smile which he returned, blushing a bit. Clearing his throat he started to talk again; "Yes... erm where were we... right. Well there's also that room on the 3rd floor corridor, you know the one we were forbidden to enter. Well there are 6 chambers inside the room we were forbidden to go, we could use any one of them I guess." He said thoughtfully.

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "I sense another story here, am I right?" she asked. Potter looked sheepish and scratched the back of his neck. Intrigued, Daphne pressed on.

"There is one, isn't there. Can you tell me?" She asked with a curious look. Potter sighed and seemed to have an internal battle. She gave him some time to decide, instead she took her time to study Potter.

He was quite handsome, he must have had a growth spurt too since he looked taller. He wasn't muscular nor he was skinny as he was used to be. He had a wiry build. His hair almost reached to his shoulders now but was messy as ever. Daphne suddenly realized that she was staring at Potter and looked away with a blush. Looking back at Potter she realized that Potter was still contemplating. 'Thank Morgana for that.' She thought to herself.

Finally Potter snapped out of it. "I suppose I can." He said. "Well not many people know this, in fact me, Hermione and Ron are the only students who know this. During our first year Dumbledore hid the Philosophers stone in the castle, for it's protection." He started and went on to explain how the Dark Lord was possessing Professor Quirrel and about the traps that were set along the six chambers of the room on the 3rd floor corridor.

"When I touched him, he just melted Daphne." He explained eyes blazing. "Dumbledore said it was an ancient magic invoked by my mother's sacrifice. To this day I'm protected from Voldemort thanks to my mother. The stone was destroyed by the Flamel's I think." He finished.

Daphne was stunned. She never expected that Harry had faced something like that so young. 'Harry Potter's puzzle just got a whole lot more complicated. I wonder what else he has faced.' Daphne thought looking in to his eyes.

"So he is alive." She said softly. Harry just nodded. She noticed that she was calling him Harry but ignored it, too stunned to fight herself.

"Any other deadly experiences you like to share." She tried to joke. Harry look pained and avoided her eyes.

"No way! Potter, how do you do it?" She asked more to herself. "Wait, is that why Dumbledore gave all those points to you?" She questioned suddenly remembering their first year.

"Yeah." Potter simply answered. She noted that he doesn't like to talk about his achievements much. Sighing she remembered the original topic they were on.

"Alright. That's a lot to take in, but you starting to train makes even more sense now. Since you've a Dark Lord after you." She said. "Ok that's two rooms we can check. What else you've got?" She asked him trying to ignore the fact that she just learned the Dark Lord was alive.

"Oh... yeah, well other than that... the only place I could think of is the Chamber of secrets." He said looking at the lake.

Daphne blinked. She blinked 10 more times, and looked at Harry who now was smirking at her.

"What?" she managed finally. " _The Chamber_? How in Morgana's name did you find it." Daphne asked utterly bemused. "Wait, I sense another story behind this." She stated to which Potter nodded. She sighed and said, "Well it'll have to wait, it's almost time for lunch, if we don't go now the house elves will clear lunch."

"Oh, that's ok. We can go to the kitchens and have lunch. The house elves are ecstatic to serve anyone who comes to them." Potter said. Daphne was surprised again. Potter seems to have a knack of throwing her off balance. "Wait you know where the kitchens are? How?" She asked, but Potter wasn't paying attention. He looked like he was somewhere else. Just as she was about to ask him again he suddenly gave an exclamation.

"OF COURSE. House elves, I can ask Dobby. He works here so should know the perfect place." He started to say.

Saying Daphne was confused was an understatement. She slapped Potter arm to get his attention. Seeing that Potter was looking at him she just raised an eyebrow.

"Oh sorry Daphne, just had a brainwave. You see I know an elf that works here. He's a friend of mine." He explained. Daphne nodded albeit unsurely. 'He has a house elf friend?' she thought.

"Anyways seeing as it's my fault you almost missed dinner, let me show you where the Hogwarts kitchen is as a compensation Ms. Greengrass." He said with a grin. Daphne amused at his antics played along.

"Very well Mr. Potter that should suffice." She replied haughtily, getting up gracefully. Potter laughed and got up as well. Suddenly he stopped laughing and looked thoughtful. "I'll go first. You follow me." He said after a while.

Realizing what he meant she gave a nod and saw him leave. Following him she saw that he was heading in the direction where the Hufflepuff common room was rumored to be.

'Well he sure knows the castle well." Daphne thought as she saw him going near a painting of a bowl of fruit. To her surprise he smiled at her and tickled the pear. Even more shockingly the pear giggled and transformed into a green door knob hence revealing a door.

'This is too many surprises for one day. WHAT am I going to say to Tracey.' she groaned as she followed Potter in through the newly appeared door.

...

* * *

 **A/N : There you go. Sry for any mistakes I've made. Put in your reviews whether you want the next chapter in Harry's POV or Daphne's. If I don't get any reviews I'll... . Ahem. Moving on. Thank you for reading and as always constructive criticism is welcome. Flames will be ignored!**

 **Fun facts: What I told earlier about what Harry saw in the mirror is correct. In the movie we only see his parents. The room Harry found the mirror is actually on the 4th floor! The Mirror of Erised was made before the 19th century and is owned by the Hogwarts headmaster.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey all! Chapter 10 is done. Sorry about the delay, I promise to give you all two chapters tomorrow. I was just bored to write the next chapter :P**

 **Thank you all so much for reviewing and favorite/following this. Think I just hit over 200 followers!**

 **This'll be Harry's POV by the way, I wanted to get these filler chapters over with so I can move on to Harry's training. I've got some good ideas for the first task so stay tuned! XD**

 **Disclaimer :** By now you should know that I don't own Harry Potter!

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...

"Harry Potter sir has come to visit Dobby!"

The excited voice of Dobby the house-elf rang through the Hogwatrs kitchen. The other elves glanced at them before returning to whatever they were doing before. Harry looked back at Daphne to see her raise a delicate eyebrow. Shaking his head he turned to the excited house elf.

"How are you Dobby. Do you like working in Hogwarts, I'm sorry that I didn't visit you more often." He said to the elf who was about to burst with happiness.

'I shouldn't have been that polite, he might die from happiness.' He thought dryly.

"Sir is too kind to Dobby. Harry Potter don't have to be sorry." Dobby said shedding tears of happiness. "Dobby is a free elf thanks to Harry Potter sir. I is proud to be a free elf. Other elf don't like Dobby, they be mean. But Dobby don't care." He finished happily.

'I can learn a lot from you Dobby. If only I can ignore the people who hate me that easily.' He thought wryly. Turning to look at Daphne he saw a rare genuine smile on her face, not one of her small smiles for a change. He had become quite adapt at figuring out Daphne's body language.

'She should smile more.' He mused.

"Dobby this is Daphne Greengrass, one of my best friends." He said to Dobby. Daphne looked surprised at that introduction much to his amusement. "She had to miss lunch because of me. Would you be kind enough to bring us some lunch? He asked him.

"Harry Potter sir is too good to Dobby." He cried. "I bring master Harry and miss Daphy lunch." He said before rushing off to prepare their lunch.

"So... Interesting friend of yours. Is there another story behind this?" Daphne asked sitting down at one of the tables. He could tell that she was curious and more than a little amused. Giving her a lop sided smile he started to talk.

"That's Dobby, he used to be the Malfoy house-elf." He said chuckling.

"Malfoy house-elf? How did he end up here?" Daphne asked with raised eyebrows. He sighed. "It's a very, very long story." He said eyeing Daphne to see her reaction. She looked even more curious, not even hiding the fact anymore.

"Potter you're full of surprises. There never seems to be a dull moment with you." she said with a hint of a smirk.

"Tell me about it." he muttered. "Oh ok, since we have time, I'll tell you about it. Wait till Dobby brings us lunch though, if he hear this he'll punish himself again." He told Daphne remembering Dobby's tendencies to hurt himself. Daphne just stared at him but didn't question him about it.

"By the way weren't you going to ask him about a room for us to practice." Daphne piped. He blinked. "Gosh I almost forgot, thanks Daphne." He said to the blond. She just smirked at him.

Just then Dobby popped in with about 5 trays filled with food, enough to feed four people easily. Dobby had gone all out, fixing up starters and all. He smiled at the little fellow and thanked him.

"Thank you Dobby, you're the best." He said. Before the elf could start to sing praises to him he asked the elf again; "Dobby I was wondering, is there a room you know where we can practice magic. You know, I've been entered in this tournament and it's quite dangerous. So I wanted to train a bit so I can... well not die."

Dobby looked thoughtful. "Maybe Harry Potter sir. Dobby used this room to find Winky an elf bed when she was sick. Dobby don't know much about it. I is going to ask other elves sir. I be back soon." He said before popping away.

"A bed for Winky? Wait... who's Winky?" Harry asked no one in particular.

"Well we'll have to wait till Dobby comes back to know that." Daphne said helping herself to some food. "So what's the story behind Dobby then?" She asked after a few more bites.

"Well I suppose." Harry sighed before starting. "It was during the summer after my first year I met Dobby. I stay at my aunt's house during the summer holidays." Disdain unknowingly entered to his tone which Daphne didn't fail to notice. Ignoring that fact he continued to tell her how he didn't receive any mail and later found out that Dobby has been responsible for it. He told her how Dobby came to warn him about the danger at Hogwarts having heard about it from the Malfoy's.

"He couldn't talk freely about it though as it would be going against his master." He said to Daphne she nodded and motioned him to continue. He continued to tell her how Dobby didn't give up when he wanted to go to Hogwarts anyway and tried to seal the barrier between the muggle world and platform 9 and 3/4.

Daphne raised her eyebrows and swallowed before asking, "So you and Weasley were stranded on the other side. That's why you were late for the feast that year. Why did you get punished though, I remember Snape looking livid."

"..." Harry avoided her eye knowing her reaction if he said why. Ruffling his hair he chanced a glance at Daphne and saw her giving him a look which translated to, 'You did something stupid right?'

Sighing he said, "The Weasley's had a flying Ford Anglia, we came to the platform in it. Well seeing the barrier closed we panicked, especially me. I was anxious to get to Hogwarts." He said remembering the horrid summer he had with the Dursleys'.

Daphne looked curious put didn't pry to which he was eternally grateful. "Ron and I decided to take the car and fly to Hogwarts." He said finally wincing slightly.

Daphne face palmed herself. "Here I thought you were ok for a Gryffindor." She muttered.

"Hey, I resent that." Harry said resisting the urge to pout. "Anyways, turns out that Ron forgot to use the invisibility feature of the car and it resulted in a huge breach of the Statute of Secrecy. Snape threw the evening edition of the Prophet to our faces and ranted at us for a while. Not to mention that we crash landed on the Whomping Willow." Harry finished lamely.

"Potter... never mind. So what happened next, all stupidity aside this is a very good story." She said shaking her head.

"Well the school year went on and the next time Dobby interfered with my life was during the quidditch match against Slytherin." He continued. "Dobby had this crazy idea that if I was injured enough I would be safe from any danger. Remember that rogue bludger? Well that was him." He finished clutching the arm where Lockhart vanished all his bones.

Daphne was wide eyed, "So to save you from danger he decided to put you in more danger?" she asked rhetorically in an emotionless voice. Harry nodded scratching the back of his neck. He then explained how Dobby visited him at the hospital wing and told about the chamber's opening and the danger he was facing.

"Long story short after the whole chamber of secret fiasco ended I tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing Dobby. That's basically all there is to it." He finished nonchalantly.

Daphne gave him a long look and nodded. "Fine but you _will_ show me the Chamber of Secrets." She said as if daring him to disagree. He gave her a lop sided smile and started to eat again. The food was starting to get cold since he couldn't eat a lot while talking to Daphne. Daphne though had finished her meal and was eating a Treacle Tart.

"You eat Treacle Tart?" He blurted out in excitement. Daphne glanced at her dessert and nodded. "Yeah it's my favorite, I know you like it as well." She finished with a smirk.

"How did you know that?" Harry asked bewildered. Daphne's smirk grew before she answered. "The same way I knew you didn't put your name in the goblet." She answered cryptically. Harry was a bit puzzled but shrugged it off.

Suddenly Dobby popped in. "Master Harry Potter sir, Dobby found it." The elf exclaimed bouncing off his toes.

"Oh, where is it and what is this room." Harry asked intrigued.

"It is known by us as the Come and Go Room, sir, or else as the Room of Requirement!" Dobby said.

"Why?" Daphne asked.

"Because it is a room that a person can only enter when they have real need of it. Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs." Dobby said now jumping up and down.

"Wow Dobby this is brilliant. Where is this room?" Harry asked quickly, excited at the prospect of finding something his father and Sirius failed to find. Looking at Daphne he saw her eyes shining in interest as well.

"Dobby can take you there now sir. Harry Potter sir just needs to grab onto Dobby and miss Daphy should grab on to Harry Potter sir." Dobby said eagerly.

"Wait a bit Dobby." Harry said before gulping down a glass of water and eyeing the Treacle Tart longingly. Deciding to sacrifice it for the greater good he nodded to Daphne and grabbed Dobby. He felt Daphne grabbing his hand and told Dobby that they were ready.

Suddenly there was a weird sensation not entirely unpleasant but definitely quite odd, and they were on the 7th floor.

"That was different from normal apparition." He heard Daphne say.

"How so?" Harry asked.

"You mean you've never been side-along apparated." She asked incredulously. Seeing his shake of the head she sighed. "Well it's horrible. Most people throw up after there first side-along apparition." She explained.

"I see, this is house elf apparition so there must be some differences." He guessed. "Anyways, Dobby where is this room?" He asked the house elf while eyeing the tapestry showing how Barnabas the Barmy tried to teach trolls how to ballet.

"Master Harry Potter sir needs to think exactly what he wants while walking three times past this spot." Dobby said pointing to a stretch of wall opposite to the tapestry.

"And you're sure this'll work." Harry asked the elf skeptically.

"Oh yes sir. Dobby used this room to find Winky a nice elf bed sir." Dobby replied immediately. Looking at Daphne he realized they were still holding hands, and to his surprise Daphne was slightly blushing. Letting go off her hand he tried to calm down. 'Easy Harry, it's just a girl.' He said in his mind.

"So you want to give it a try." He asked the blond after he managed to control his complexion a bit. Daphne nodded and closed her eyes a bit. Harry couldn't help but stare a bit. He was thinking how nice Cho looked at the end of last year, but these days he kept thinking about Daphne instead. Quickly clearing his mind he saw that Daphne had started to pace in front of the wall.

After the third time a door suddenly materialized. "It really worked." He heard Daphne say softly to herself. Grabbing the door he swiftly opened and was met with an interior of a beautiful manor. He was wide eyed at the luxurious decor and turned to look at Daphne who was looking around with a soft smile on her face.

Seeing his face she smiled at him and said, "This is the front hall of the Greengrass Manor. I like this area even more than the living room of the manor. Do you like it?"

He nodded and looked around again. "It's beautiful." He said softly. Daphne's smile grew wider before she turned to Dobby. "This is a magnificent room Dobby. Thank you for sharing it with us. It's perfect." She said to the elf.

"Miss Daphy is kind like Master Harry Potter sir. Dobby need no thanks miss." He said shedding tears of joy.

"Dobby you're the best house elf ever." Harry said while grinning at Daphne. "If you want _anything_ just tell us." Dobby flung himself at Harry and hugged him. "Dobby is happy to help the Great Harry Potter. But Dobby have to leave now." He said releasing Harry.

"Alright Dobby, thank you again." Daphne said before the elf popped away. Harry smiled at Daphne who just shrugged.

"This is perfect. If the room can mimic details with such precision, it won't have trouble giving us what we want." She said looking at the room again. "Wonder if the room can provide us things from the inside." She said thoughtfully. At once a book appeared on the table next to Daphne.

"It worked!" She exclaimed. Harry gave her a confused look to which she responded, "I wanted a book about Pureblood traditions and the room gave me just what I wanted!"

"Wow, you're good at figuring things out Daphne. Will we able to change what the room looks like from the inside?" He asked Daphne. She gave him a blank look. "Well try it." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and it was.

Closing his eye he concentrated, when he opened his eyes after a while to his dismay nothing had changed. "It doesn't work that way I think." He told Daphne. She tilted her head to a side and thought a bit.

"It's like this I think." She said after a while. "The room's appearance can be changed only from the outside, but you can ask the room for anything from the inside." Theorized Daphne.

"Let's go outside and ask the room for a place to train." He said while heading towards the door. Once they were outside, Harry paced three times in front of the wall. After the 3rd time a door appeared. Grinning at Daphne he entered. From the corner of his eye he saw someone walking towards them and quickly pulled Daphne in to the room and willing the door to disappear.

"That was close." She said. "You can let go of me now Potter." She told him with a smirk.

"Oh... sorry..." He stuttered, his cheeks flaming. Clearing his throat he started to speak, "Yes, well it seemed to have worked." He said looking around. To his delight, he saw Daphne eyeing the room in appreciation.

He had no idea on what to ask so he focused on the wording entirely, thankfully it worked better than he expected. He saw Daphne casting a tempus charm and frown.

"Potter we don't have a lot of time left, we have Moody soon." She told him in irritation. His eyes widened, he didn't realize that so much time passed.

"Ok we'll meet here on Saturday since tomorrow is Friday; I hate Fridays, we have the entire day is full and no breaks in between." He sighed. "Is it ok with you Daphne?" He asked hoping that she could come.

She nodded eagerly much to his surprise, and to her's as well. Blushing a bit she said, "Yes, I have more questions to ask you as well." Her eyes glinted and Harry gave avoided her gaze. She continued, "Like how did you deliver the note to me earlier while invisible. I know it wasn't the disillusionment since there wasn't any distortions in air. Besides it's a 5th year charm so you shouldn't be able to cast it anyway." She said going in to what Harry called her 'analytical mode'.

"Anyways let's meet again on Saturday, I wasn't planning to go to Hogsmeade anyway." She said shooting a smile at him before her social mask came on. "Then I'll take my leave first. See you later Harry."

Harry's eyes went wide, 'That's the first time she called me Harry.' He thought as a grin worked it's way through his face. After about five minutes, he too came out of the room grinning ear-to-ear and headed towards the Gryffindor common room.

...

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 **A/N: There we go.** **Sry for any mistakes, re-read it only once. .** **Next up some magical theory, Double potions on Friday and wand weighing! As always THANK YOU for reading and constructive criticism is welcome. Flames will be ignored!**

 **Fun facts : In year four Harry has Double History of Magic, Charms and Double Potions on Fridays!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey all I'm back and yes I'm not dead. I am SO so sorry for the delay, it wasn't that long but meh still I apologize. I was a bit busy and couldn't find time to sit down and write (is it type?)**

 **Anyways, I won't be able to update like I used to (1-2 chapters a day) since I am a bit busy these days, but I will write longer chapters. . This chapter is the normal 3K ish length (wanted to upload it ASAP) but from next one onward I'll go beyond 5K words. Sorry about this chapter being short.**

 **Good news though, thanks to the long pause between chapters I had time to think about the plot of the story. One thing I hate is authors abandoning stories so you don't have to worry about me doing that! XD!**

 **THANK YOU! All of you who reviewed and favorite/followed this. I feel like I'm not appreciating you all enough. I'm really thankful so please keep on reading.**

 **Phew long A/N, let's get on with the story now.**

 **Disclaimer** : If you read up to this point you should know that I don't own Harry Potter

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"Tempus."

It was quite late, twenty minutes past eleven to be exact. Harry was reading the book he borrowed from the library. It was more interesting than he ever thought it would be. It basically told what magic was. It was helpful in the actual casting of magic, and gave him a better understanding of magic itself. According to the book magic is a supernatural force that can alter the fabric of reality at fundamental levels. For the purpose of study the author has divided magic into two. They are ambient magic and magic in one's self. The book discuss only about the magic within oneself; specifically inside humans.

The amount of research the author has done was fascinating to Harry. The fact that the author hasn't put his name anywhere in the book is perplexing due to this. In the first few chapters the author tried to give an idea about magic and various forms of its use. He says that magic is 'wild' in nature and you learn how to 'tame' it at places like Hogwarts. However the control a witch or a wizard has over their magic depends on the said person. In other words the potential varies from person to person. The author has two measures of magical potential. The first one was the control on one's magic, how easily he/or she can 'bend' their magic to this/her will. The second was the amount of raw magic energy a person has.

Currently Harry was reading about spellcasting and how to cast spells easily and efficiently. Needless to say that Harry was absorbed in it. The facts in the book may not help Harry with his magical theory in subjects like Charms and DADA, but it helped the practical lessons of all subjects except Herbology, Divination and Care of Magical Creatures.

Seeing as he could carry on reading for a little bit longer Harry got comfortable and started to read again.

'Spells are the every-purpose tools of a wizard or witch; short bursts of magic used to accomplish single specialized tasks such as creating fire or banishing something.' He read. 'Typically casting requires an incantation, most often a modified form of Latin, (Some Asian countries are rumored not to use Latin words.) and gesturing with a wand. However, these seem to be _aids_ to the will only; wands merely focus a person's magic and words helps with the intent, but to a significant degree most fund themselves powerless without a wand.'

Harry sat straight up. 'Interesting, how are spells even made in the first place?' He thought to himself. Then there was the part about 'wandless magic'. 'Can I even learn that? Am I powerful enough?' Shaking his head to clear those thoughts he read on. After a good 45 minutes of reading he was deep in contemplation. His mind kept drifting to one line he read in the chapter.

'There are wizards and witches skilled and powerful enough to use magic without a wand, but they are few and far between, and it is much more difficult and tiring than using a wand.'

It intrigued Harry to no end, but ultimately he realized that to consciously use this in a battle would take years. Still it wasn't the only thing that caught his mind in the chapter. At one point, the author said that there were three things needed for a spell to be successfully completed; wand movement, incantation and intent. The first two are done by default. However Harry didn't know that intent was 'essential' for a spell. He had noticed that intent was crucial for a spell and had noted that with sufficient intent it was easier for a spell to be done. What he didn't think was that it was always needed regardless of the magic used.

'That explains a lot why I manage to do spells when it really matters.' He mused ruffling his hair. 'Why don't they teach this to us without going about it in a roundabout manner?' Casting a tempus again he noticed that it was quite late. Stretching a bit he put the book inside his bag and went to wash his face a bit, careful not to wake his other dorm mates up. When he got back he crawled under the sheets and thought about the last bit of the chapter he read.

It seems that magic inside you is like an 'untrained dog' in more than one sense. The more time you spend with the 'dog' the familiar you get with it. What was interesting is that you can reach out and 'feel' your magic and get familiarized with it. The author hadn't described the way in the chapter, though he had stated that it has something to do with meditation. He said that when you are more in touch with magic the easier it is to do magic while using the maximum amount of magic you can; that is without wasting magic.

'Hmm I suppose it'll help in the long run, though it won't help me with the first task that much. Wonder what Daphne will think about this.' He thought. As usual his mind started to drift towards Daphne. He noticed that he was thinking about her a lot and didn't know what to make of it. Since they found the Room of Requirement earlier today, Daphne had been constantly in his mind.

'Do I like her? I don't even know what it is to 'like' someone in the first place.' He sighed, at first when he had a small crush on Cho he thought that liking someone meant to hold hands, go on dates and snog in privacy, eventually falling in love. But what he had with Daphne was… more in a sense. He was comfortable with Daphne and was at ease with her. He didn't know much about her, but he felt like he knew her. The way he saw her in public and the way she was with her is similar and different all together. It was confusing but he strangely understood it as well. He saw that under the coldness lay a warm heart that has trouble trusting. Harry knew that whatever it was that he felt, he wanted to dive head first and explore it. He just wished he knew a bit more about what he was feeling.

He sighed and rubbed his face. 'I don't have time to deal with this anyways. I have enough problems on my plate already.' A mirthless chuckle escaped him as he thought about the problems in his life. 'Teenage issues seem so insignificant to me. Then again if I didn't get dumped in this tournament I probably wouldn't have met Daphne either.' He thought with a smile. Looking at his situation that way made it easier for him to put things into perspective. 'Anyway, I'll get to know Daphne a bit more and survive the first task before worrying about this.' He decided finally.

"I should write to Sirius for advice, girls seemed to be his forte. Wonder why he still hasn't replied to my letter yet." He muttered to himself, unafraid of anyone hearing him thanks to his silencing spells. Feeling that he really should get some sleep since tomorrow was Friday he tried to clear his thoughts and sleep.

...

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…

"Good thing we have History of Magic first thing eh Nev?" He asked his plump friend as he gulped down some toast. He was still sleepy and reluctantly got out of bed, thanks to one Neville Longbottom. The said person just groaned and turned to him disbelief.

"Are you serious Harry? It is the most boring subject in the world. Why would it be a good thing?" Neville asked incredulously.

"The fact that it is boring and not to mention completely worthless is exactly why it's a good thing. I can have a good nap before charms." He grinned at his friend.

"You need to go easy on yourself Harry. I know you need to work hard but overworking isn't a solution mate." Neville said with a sigh.

"Don't worry. It's not even a week since the champion selections and besides I've decided to rest on the weekends a bit more." He waved Neville off dismissively. He finished his breakfast and sipped his pumpkin juice.

"Yeah about that, you know you can ask for my help. I want to help you in any way possible." Neville said seriously. "You said you have some idea about the first task, mind sharing that with me?" He asked curiously looking around for unwanted company inconspicuously. Harry looked at Neville and leaned towards him a bit.

"Yeah, I checked the history of the tournament and there is a slight pattern to the first task." He paused to check his surroundings. "It seems that the first task always involves with some magical beast. Not defeating it per se, more like out witting it or something like that." He finished quietly.

Neville gasped, "That's some task. Pity you don't know what the beast is, I just hope it won't be something too dangerous like a dragon." He frowned.

Harry chuckled humorlessly, "On the contrary Nev, they use beasts like dragons explicitly. The more dangerous for us, the better it is for them. Something about pleasing the audience I guess."

Neville gaped at him. "How in Merlin's name are you so calm?" He said finally.

Harry shrugged and took a sip of pumpkin juice, "To be honest I'm scared, but I realized being scared won't help me survive this. It took a while to get to this point though." He said while grinning sheepishly at Neville.

Turning away from Neville he looked around and immediately regretted it. More than half of the hall was wearing those stupid badges and it affected him more than he was willing to admit. The fickleness of the Hogwarts students aggravated him. Gladly none of the Gryffindor's were wearing them, though some looked like they were tempted to. Feeling anger and frustration rising within him he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

'Wish there was any to prove my innocence. Isn't there a truth potion or something?' He thought bitterly. Sighing he looked at the Slytherin table and saw Daphne starting to get up. It made him happy to see that she wasn't wearing a badge when almost all Slytherins' were wearing them. Their eyes crossed and he sent a small smile her way. Her expression softened a bit before it went back to her usual look of apathy. Sighing to himself he turned to Neville.

"Are you done Nev?" Harry asked chugging down the rest of his pumpkin juice and turning to his friend. "Ready to grab our bags and head to Binns's class?" Neville nodded and got up and started to leave the hall. Feeling someone's eyes on him he looked around the hall to see a smirking Draco Malfoy. 'What's he looking so smug for? Damnit he's heading this way.' He thought exasperatedly.

"Potter, you know you're pathetic. You ditched the weasel and got a squib. What's next, muggles?" He said with his trademark sneer.

"Beat it Malfoy, I don't have time to play with you." Harry replied trying to avoid a confrontation this early in the day. Unfortunately for him the blond haired scion had other ideas.

"Potty, Potty what's the rush, I need to savor these moments since you're about to die in a couple of weeks you know. That aside do you like my badges, I made them just for you." He drawled with a smug smile.

Gritting his teeth, he replied; "So that was you. Figures no one else can come up with such crappy insults. I mean, Potter stinks! Really, are you five years old and I would bet you didn't enchant those badges since you suck at magic. You have some nerve calling Neville a squib." Harry smirked seeing the fury and embarrassment in Malfoy's eyes. Neville laughed at his side giving a pat to his back.

"C,mon Harry leave the blond ponce, I prefer Binns's company compared to his." Neville added his two knuts. As they started to walk away they were interrupted again by a fuming Malfoy.

"Shut it squib, this is a conversation between wizards. Why don't you go and play with your frog?" He tried to regain some composure.

Clenching his fists Harry turned around, but before he could walk towards Malfoy Neville put a hand on his shoulder, and shook his head. Glancing at his friend he saw what Neville tried to warn about. Snape was about to leave the hall, and no doubt he will head this way seeing them. Exhaling slowly, he nodded at Neville and glared fiercely at the blond before walking towards their common room to get ready for Binns.

They walked in silence towards the common room, Harry trying to calm down while Neville was busy with his thoughts. Entering the common room, they headed to their dorms. They were mostly ignored by the common room, though Harry saw Ginny giving him an odd look.

'What's up with her now. I know she has a crush on me, but unless she talks to me she'll always be Ron's sister to me.' He thought to himself. He was baffled with Ginny's logic. If she likes me she should believe in me. Come to think of it, he didn't know anything about her besides the fact that she is Ron's sister. Ignoring Ginny, he entered the dorm and grabbed his bag. Checking to see if he had his textbook he slung the bag over his shoulder.

Seeing that Neville was ready they started their trek towards the History of Magic classroom. "So Harry, I was thinking about the first task. Are you allowed to take anything other than your wand?" Neville asked breaking the silence.

"No just our wands. Even if we were allowed take other things I have no idea what I would take." Harry replied. 'Come to think of it I haven't told this to Daphne either. I should tell her when we meet tomorrow.' He mused absently.

"Hmm well the only thing I can do is write to gran and ask if she heard anything about this. She's in the wizengamot, so she might have heard something about this." Neville intoned.

"Thanks mate, I'll take all the help I can get." He gave Neville a small smile. The shy Gryffindor gave him an odd look. "I thought you would say no. Don't take me wrong I'm glad that you said yes, but I thought you would say something like it's cheating." Neville finished.

Giving his friend a knowing smile he said, "Yeah but you're right, that's what I think. Still I figured that me being forced to compete isn't fair in the first place so might as well take any help I can get." Inwardly he was thanking Daphne remembering their conversation by the lake. Neville nodded patting his back as they entered Binns's class.

Seeing that the class was just about to start they took their seats. He looked around and saw that the Ravenclaws were getting ready for class while most of the Gryffindors were getting ready to sleep. Catching Hermione's eye, he sent a small smile her way which was returned by her. He also saw Ron glaring slightly at him. Not in the mood to humor him he returned the glare. Unable to face his glare Ron turned away and started chatting with Seamus. Shaking his head, he sighed. Neville saw this gave him a small smile and patted his shoulder. He heard Binns starting to talk and tried to pay attention to him for a change. It lasted for about 30 seconds before he got tired of Binns.

Taking his textbook he stood it before him so that it was covering his sleeping from Binns's, though he wasn't afraid of being caught since Binns doesn't care if the class is listening or not. For the umpteenth time he wondered why Dumbledore hired Binns. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he got comfortable and tried to get some sleep before charms.

…

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 **A/N : Sorry again for the short length. I was planning to add the entire Friday but wanted to post this ASAP as I said earlier.**

 **I REALIZED SOMETHING! I have never asked you all to review, EVER so please review! I like to know what you think :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey all here's the next chapter. I know. I know... I said 3-4 days and it took me a month. Sorry about that by the way was real busy. Anyways I apologize humbly.**

 **Thanks for the awesome response despite my less than awesome updates. I mean 400 follows and it's not even two months. *gasp* THANK YOU especially you reviewers.**

 **Some of you had some Harry/Ginny fears. FEAR NOT!**

 **Also I decided to answer reviews in the chapter itself in the A/N at the top. I used to send PM's to anyone who asked a question in reviews.**

 **Disclaimer** **:** I didn't pair Harry and Ginny. Obviously I don't own Harry Potter!

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Harry fell heavily into the seat next to Neville once inside the Charms classroom. The small nap during History of Magic made him crankier if he was honest with himself. Still he loved charms and frankly, to him Flitwick was the best teacher in Hogwarts. Hagrid was kind and all that but even he had to admit that the gentle giant wasn't the best teacher.

Next to him Neville was hastily writing the conclusion of the essay they were to submit. Normally he would be doing the same, but with his new found determination for studying he had completed all his homework.

"Done, is it?" He questioned.

"Yeah, that'll do. If Flitwick is feeling generous I might even get an EE." Neville smiled wryly. "I still can't believe you finished all your homework." He added.

Harry shrugged. "Gives me more time to study. You know I really should have paid more attention in the previous years." He started, trying to vent some frustrations. "Why the other day, when I was going through the Transfiguration book, I had to go through the year 2 book to understand the section I was reading." He rubbed his face tiredly.

"You know what, I might as well do homework with you. So tell me when you start on yours, I'll join you." Neville said while eyeing Flitwick who just entered the classroom.

Harry nodded and looked around the class. They were sharing it with the Puffs' and as usual they were glaring at him from time to time. He was getting tired of the infamy against him. Harry was usually quite good at ignoring them but with the introduction of the badges and his own grumpy mood; suffice to say that he wasn't doing it quite well today.

Suddenly Harry had an idea, it was something he had been thinking about recently and seeing that Flitwick was going to take a couple of minutes to start the class he decided to act on it.

"Nev, what do you think of Daphne Greengrass?" He started trying to look unconcerned about the answer, while looking at Susan Bones who was glaring at him with passion as usual.

Neville gave him a curious look and propped his elbows on the desk while cupping his chin with his palms. "Well… I don't know much about her to be honest, met her a couple of times at some of the Gala's hosted by various pureblood houses. We never talked though." He said. "From what I've seen at Hogwarts though she seems to be detached from everyone except her friend, err… Tracey Davis I think." He continued. Turning his head to look Harry in the eye he added, "To be honest though she scares me."

Harry gave him a grin and moved his head closer to Neville's. "What if I told you that she is a friend of mine." He said softly voice laced with amusement. "Right now you, Daphne and Hermione are the only friends I have I think." He said more to himself.

His plump friend opened his mouth only to close it. Harry grinned broadly at his expression, he was a tad nervous about his friend's reaction.

"You…- I…- Are we talking about the same Daphne Greengrass? You know the 'Ice Queen'? Neville finally managed.

Harry smirked, vaguely noting that Flitwick had started the lesson. "The very same." He replied.

"Oh… well, ok… err- right, good to know that." He said lamely. "I take it that she isn't that bad? Wait, has she been helping you with the tournament?" He whispered after composing himself a bit.

"Yes and yes. I'll tell you all about it after Charms. Just wanted you to know mate." Harry smiled softly. He was thankful that Neville wasn't biased towards Slytherins' as Ron was. Even Hermione would have been suspicious and nagged him to no end. He knew that Hermione didn't trust him or Ron to be smart about things. She was doing it subconsciously but still it irritated him. Harry had tendencies to act rashly, but he trusted his instincts. Just like when he met Ron and Hermione on the train, he knew that Daphne bore no ill will towards him.

'Wonder if it has something to do with magic. This… sense I have; if magic is like a dog then it should have a scent right?' He mused absently.

He was so preoccupied that he didn't pay attention to anything Flitwick said and the said teacher didn't fail to act on it.

"Mr. Potter are you with us. Perhaps you would like to explain the mechanics behind the patronus charm. I assume you know it since you obviously aren't paying attention." He asked sarcastically.

Harry struggled to keep the grin off his face. Then suddenly he had a brainwave. He did a little dance in his head and looked Flitwick in the eye. The professor was taken aback by the fire in his eyes. A chill crept up his spine seeing the mischief in the young Potter's eye reminding the half goblin who the boy's father was.

'This should give the rumour mill something to gossip about. Knowing the fickleness of Hogwarts that'll do something to keep the hate from Tri Wizard Tournament off me for a while… I hope.' He thought with a smug satisfaction.

He knew that the casting of the patronus is even beyond NEWTS, heck the casting itself might give an 'O' in DADA OWL practical exam. The theory was just discussed briefly in year 4 so this should unsettle even Flitwick.

"Professor, I'll be glad to explain the Patronus charm. In fact, here, let me cast it for you." Harry said drinking in the looks of shock among his classmates. Closing his eyes and focusing on the image of his mother he gathered all the love for her, imagined her hugging him and let the emotions build up. A faint smile played across his lips and he felt the magic, his magic. He idly thought if he was more in tune with magic now that he was aware of how it works.

Feeling it was the time he opened his eyes and shouted,

"EXPECTO PATRONUM."

A giant silver stag burst from his wand; tall as he was, and galloped towards Flitwick. The whole class gasped in awe as the magnificent beast searched for possible threats. Seeing none it came back to its master and dipped its head. Smiling he nodded at 'Prongs' as he affectionately called him in memory of his father. As he touched Prongs the ethereal beast dissipated to mist, which enveloped Harry for a few seconds. It felt eerily like a hug from his father.

Still smiling he looked at the class who were slack jawed. Even the puff's forgot about their contempt for him and gazed at him in amazement. Neville looked like he just met Merlin. Professor Flitwick was the first to gather his wits.

"Mr. Potter… amazing, astounding, simply marvellous. Take 50 points my boy. Come to the front of the class. I would like you tell the class about this charm. I'll give you extra credit for this, oh yes I will. Your mother was a charms prodigy Mr. Potter; I knew you would get her talent." The short professor squeaked excitedly.

Harry's heart swelled with happiness at being compared to his mother. He suddenly realized why Hermione always strives to do the best in class.

'This feeling of acceptance. She must have wanted to please her parents and fill the emptiness she felt due not having friends.' He thought sadly while glancing at Hermione who was happy to see prongs again as well. Catching his eye, she gave an approving nod.

He felt awkward next to Flitwick. What was he supposed to do now?

'Might as well get on with it, I have to tutor Daphne tomorrow as well.' He sighed mentally.

"Err… yes. Well what you saw was the patronus charm. I don't exactly know how the charm was created, but what I do know is that it's one of the most powerful defensive charms known to wizards. I had to learn it due the effect Dementors had on me. To this day I don't know how I mastered it." He started awkwardly. Feeling more confident he continued.

"It is highly effective against darkness itself, but it is primarily used as protection against Dementors and Lenthifolds; against which there is no other defence." He said, his voice gaining strength. He curiously noted that he had the attention of everyone in the class.

'I might actually like teaching.' He thought in amusement.

"The one who taught me the charm, told me that often people would not be able to produce a patronus. I think the charm is complicated because it needs emotion to cast unlike with other branches of magic. I felt that the magic used in producing a patronus has more to do with actual feelings rather than intent." He continued. Even Professor Flitwick was interested in his explanation now.

"Of course I could be wrong, but the magic itself feels different when you cast a patronus when compared with something like the disarming charm." He remembered how the magic felt when he casted the charm just now.

"Feeling the magic? What do you mean by that Harry?" Hermione asked suddenly startling him. He looked at her and then at Flitwick who had a merry twinkle in his eye, urging him to answer.

He looked around the class and thought about how he should answer the question. He decided to use some of the knowledge he gained from reading 'The essence of magic.'

"Hmm, well before that let me explain about magic and the actual casting of the patronus charm." He said thoughtfully. His eyes were fixed at a point far away, not focusing on anything within the class. Hermione was shocked at his response. He had to fight a smirk of at the thought that he knew something Hermione didn't.

"Magic, from what I have felt, heard and read is something akin to a force of nature. It is semi-conscious and wizards have magic within themselves. To me magic is like water, you can't exactly have full control over it, but you can guide it and let it flow how you want. Also like how you need a container to hold water, you need a wand to focus magic. It is exceedingly difficult to focus magic without a wand." He explained. Looking around he saw surprise in the eyes of every in the class. He saw a myriad of emotions in his peers' eyes but didn't look long enough to decipher what those emotions were.

"When I use magic, as in common spells like alohamora it feels… bland almost. To be honest I don't feel anything when casting something like alohamora most of the time. But if I concentrate… Well… the point is the magic feels more, docile and it doesn't feel that strong. Now in the case of the patronus it's more alive, powerful… raw in a sense." He tried to explain to the class. Flitwick looks surprised but nodded in approval.

"Very impressive Mr. Potter, the fact that you felt magic at all is impressive. 10 points to Gryffindor." Flitwick happily said. "I would like to add something to what Mr. Potter said, it isn't important but I feel that most of you are curious enough." He added bouncing slightly on his toes.

"The wand makes a powerful focus for one's magic, however it is not enough most of the time. That's where wand movements and incantations come in." Flitwick paused to let it sink. Seeing that most of the class looked quite interested to hear more Flitwick continued to speak.

"These 3 things; wand, wand movement and incantation, mould magic so that it is easier to work with. The Patronus however is the magical embodiment of purity. All things pure can be used to fuel it." The professor continued. "Now here's why the patronus is one of the most complex pieces of magic. I'm astounded that Mr. Potter even managed to formed a corporeal patronus." Seeing the looks of confusion, the little professor quickly added, "I'll explain it later don't worry. Where was I. Oh yes, the patronus is complex due to the fact that to call upon such raw magic you need powerful magic, and strong emotions. It sounds simple but it isn't." He paused a bit looking oddly serious.

"It is said that He-who-must-not-be-named was unable to cast a patronus." Noting the looks of disbelief, he pushed on to explain. "Not that he wasn't powerful enough, after all he was evenly matched with Albus Dumbledore. Oh no, he was powerful. I believe what he lacked was positive emotions. After all he did magic far more powerful than the patronus. The Dark Arts require quite a lot of emotions." He explained gravely.

The class was filled with an odd silent, it was awkward but no one was willing to break it. Harry's mind went to what Voldemort said to him in his first year.

'There is no good and evil only power…'

"Well Mr. Potter why don't you explain how you cast the spell. I must admit I myself find it curious." Flitwick suddenly squeaked startling everyone out of their thoughts.

"Uhh… yes- well… when I first started to learn the spell, I was asked to recall the happiest memory I have and try to cast the spell." Harry started recalling Remus's teachings. "Let me also add it is very, very difficult to cast the spell in the presence of a Dementor. Mainly because they suck happiness out of you and you need it to cast the patronus." He said remembering the horde of Dementors at the lake. Sheer desperation and the unwillingness to lose the only chance at having something remotely similar to a father made it possible to cast the spell. To further strengthen the spell, he thought about his mom and dad and the family they could have been.

"How can you possibly know?" Zacharias Smith arrogantly questioned regaining a bit of vitriol the puff's had for him. Smirking at him he answered. "Trust me you don't want to know." Neville grinned at him a bit and he returned it.

"Well when I managed to cast it I didn't think of only happiness." He continued. Flitwick looked surprised again then he nodded his head at him obviously impressed.

"Very good Mr. Potter. Take 5 more points. I won't give you any more points, I wish I could though." The professor said chuckling.

Grinning at him Harry continued. He had to struggle a bit to explain the next part. "Back to where I was. Other than happiness… well I tried to imagine all the love I had for my parents. That's when I realized, the memory doesn't have to be real; Only the emotion behind it should be." He explained slightly embarrassed but oddly happy with himself.

The class was silent again, this time it wasn't awkward. He even sensed respect and slight awe. He had a feeling the rumour mill will do what he expected it to do when he was about to cast the patronus. Some sent sad glances at him which he ignored. He didn't need pity. He also avoided Ron's eye for obvious reasons.

"Amazing Mr. Potter. You managed to figure it out on your own. Though I'm slightly miffed that you revealed the secret of the patronus. It something I believe that one should find on their own. But it is my fault. After all, I asked you to explain and explain you did." Flitwick said with a smile, gesturing at him to continue.

Wanting to finish this and get back to his seat, Harry tried to end it quick. "Well after you have the emotion, or a powerful enough memory to invoke that emotion, you just have to cast the spell. No wand movements per se, though I find it easy if you add a slight circular motion when you cast the charm. Nothing major, just try not to hold your wand like a rigid stick." He finished and gave a pointed glance at the diminutive professor.

"Thank you Mr. Potter for that remarkable explanation. I feel that today's class was quite a success. I'll talk to professor Moody as well. The actual casting of the patronus falls under DADA. I think you just earned yourself an Acceptable in the exams this year in both Charms and DADA with just this." Flitwick chuckled.

Feeling embarrassed Harry just ruffled his hair and nodded at the professor before heading to his seat next to Neville.

"Now since we a little more time left I'll explain the 2 forms in which…" Harry tuned out Flitwick as he dropped in next to Neville. The said boy was looking at him respect and happily clapped his back.

"Bloody hell mate, what on Earth made you do that. It was awesome. Blimey even Susan forgot to glare at you." Neville whispered excitedly.

Being out of the spotlight he felt his body relax. Suddenly he realized what happened, and it left him in a daze. He released a quite laugh and turned to Neville.

"I have no idea how I managed it. I just had a sudden burst of courage. Look I'm shaking now. I just planned to prank Flitwick and… I don't know… just show everyone… Uhh something" He said quietly while showing the shaking hand to his friend. "Now that I think about it, I'm pretty embarrassed."

'It was the patronus that gave me the strength to pull this off.' He thought. He was a little proud that he managed to devise a plan like this, though he didn't expect it to go this well. It would lessen the glares and will give everyone a different perspective on the boy-who-lived.

'Definitely not the Gryffindor way.' He knew that since Hermione wasn't there he had to think about a lot of things. It wasn't a bad thing in his opinion, though he did miss her advice.

Neville didn't respond so he shook himself from his musings and looked at his friend. His face was unreadable. A few seconds later he smiled softly and looked at Harry.

"I'm going to take my studies seriously too. I want to make my parents proud as well." He said his voice thick with emotion.

Harry's eyes widened. 'He's the same as me.' He realized. Harry knew that look in his eye. He had it in his eyes as well. At that moment a bond formed between them. Something he hadn't had with Ron. No words were needed. They settled into a comfortable silence, their thoughts far away as Flitwick rambled on.

'I have someone who understands my pain. At least a part of it.'

...

* * *

…

"And that's about it." Harry said before taking another bite off his sandwich. He just finished telling Neville an abridged version of his interactions with Daphne, leaving out most of the important things like the room of requirement. Not that he wanted to hide anything.

Neville took a huge gulp of his juice. "She seems remarkably… ordinary for an 'Ice queen.' Seems like her reputation is overrated." He said dryly.

"Why don't you find that out yourself Nev." He chuckled seeing the momentary panic on his friend's face.

"I'd rather not." The plump boy said punching his arm, realizing that he was only teasing him.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hermione heading his way. Surprised, he turned to her and saw her smiling at him. Returning the favour, he gestured to the seat opposite to his hoping she would take it. Nodding, she sat down and smiled at Neville.

"Hello you two. I hope you don't mind me sitting here." She asked nervously.

"Not at all, I did say you were welcome to sit with us. I didn't! Well my bad. Allow me to say it now." He said with a lop sided smile, the words coming easy. Ron left the Great Hall earlier and he was glad to talk to Hermione.

"Yeah Hermione, you can join us anytime you want." Neville added next to him.

Hermione relaxed a bit more then got straight to the point. "Harry James Potter, what was that during Charms. It was brilliant." She exclaimed.

Ruffling his hair in embarrassment he looked away. "Thanks. Just wanted to prank Flitwick. He asked for it." He chuckled.

"But where did you learn all that about magic. Even I didn't know most of it." She said grudgingly.

"Well I read it." He said simply. "What! It's not like I don't read." He added seeing her incredulous look.

"You don't read Harry." Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone. Then looked sheepish at what she blurted out.

"Didn't Hermione. I had to read since I got dragged into this bloody tournament." He said unable to hide all the spite he had for the tournament.

"Sorry, that was a little stupid of me. Can I help you with anything Harry? I'm sorry I didn't ask you before." Hermione pleaded.

Harry pondered for a bit before shaking his head. "No thanks Hermione, right now I don't think you could help me with anything."

"Oh." She looked sad he noted. "Well if you do need my help be sure to ask." She said firmly.

Harry gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you Hermione. Besides don't worry the first task can't be worse than a basilisk, right? He said with a laugh.

Neville gaped. "Basilisk? What are you talking about?" He asked confused. Harry groaned and looked at Hermione who looked amused.

"Well since I told you about Sirius I might as well tell you all the 'adventures' I had with Ron and Hermione." He said not relishing the thought. He always felt uncomfortable recalling them. Then he had another brilliant idea.

"Hermione would you do the honours." He asked. Hermione cast some privacy wards which made Harry raise an eyebrow. He didn't even know half of them.

"You told him about Sirius!" She exclaimed.

"Of course I did. If you hadn't noticed, he is my best friend. I trust him as much as I trust you." He said more than a little annoyed at her comment. Neville looked surprised at that comment before giving him a grateful nod.

'Didn't he know?' Harry thought idly.

"Sorry Harry, sorry Neville. I shouldn't have said that. It was rude of me to think Harry would trust foolishly or that you would betray his trust Neville.

"It's fine, honestly. You were worried for Harry and Sirius is all." Neville dismissed her. There was an awkward pause in the conversation. Neville coughed and turned to Hermione.

"So… the basilisk?" He started.

"Oh… right, well in our second year…" Harry tuned her out looking around the hall. He did his normal scan of the Slytherin table for Daphne only to be disappointed. He assumed that she was already done with her lunch.

Taking another swig of his pumpkin juice he lazily listened to Hermione recalling how he and Ron went after Ginny. He caught Dumbledore's eyes which were as always twinkling merrily. He saw a hint of amusement in it. He smiled at the old headmaster who just raised his goblet slightly. Harry knew that Dumbledore had already heard about his patronus. Despite what people thought, not much escapes Dumbledore's notice.

To his left Moody's artificial eye was focused on him. It felt unnatural. He got a weird vibe from moody. He nodded at the ex-aurror and turned to Hermione.

"How did he survive?" Neville asked a little pale from what he had just heard. 'Can't blame him. I used to have nightmares about it.' He mused.

"Dumbledore's phoenix, 'Fawkes' was there, and he cried on my wound. Phoenix tears have remarkable healing powers." He said interrupting Hermione who looked at him with exasperation.

"So, now you decide to talk. I wasn't the one facing the Basilisk you know. You could have helped me tell it." She huffed. He ignored her and sent a disarming smile. Neville coughed getting their attention. He looked less pale.

"Bloody hell he's alive isn't he. Gran always thought he was. 'Dumbledore never told us that he's dead' she said. And he's coming for you isn't he." Neville asked quietly. No one said anything for a while. They were all engrossed in their thoughts.

"So any other 'thrilling adventures' you'd like to share? We do have a lot of time till potions." Neville said trying to lighten the mood. Harry groaned and Hermione uncharacteristically giggled.

He sighed. "I might as well. What about you Hermione? Will you join us?" He left the unasked question hanging.

Hermione realized his real question instantly. She looked torn. Just as he was going to speak again she gave her answer.

"Yes I will. Though don't get used to it." She said in mock haughtiness. Harry knew what she really meant though. 'She'll hang around with us but until the issue with Ron is settled she won't choose a side.' Harry was happy with this. Somehow he knew that she would always be his friend. Besides in his opinion there wasn't any choosing to do. He was telling the truth and Ron was acting like a prat.

"Well I don't feel like staying indoors. Come on you two let's go outside." He said brightly. "I suppose we should start with year one eh Nev?"

* * *

...

 **A/N: I tried something different. The patronus is beyond NEWTS, but it doesn't mean they didn't study it, Also I wanted to try this scene with Flitwick and the class. How was it?  
A slightly longer chapter too if you noticed. I've written half of the next chapter so expect chapter 13 within a week (Don't count on it though :[). I originally intended that the day I'm writing to be added in one chapter, but it got too long.  
Next chapter, Weighing of Wands.**

 **As always flames will be ignored, constructive criticism is welcome. PLEASE review! Thank you for reading.**

 **Fun Facts: Flitwick's boggart is said to be Voldemort. Here's something interesting though. Flitwick doesn't have a corporeal patronus! Didn't add that in the story, because Flitwick had no need to announce it XD!**


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